


Nephilim

by Forever_Hopeless



Series: Nephilim Series [1]
Category: Girl Meets World, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shadowhunters (TV), Supernatural, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Downworlders, F/F, F/M, Infinity Wars Fix-It, M/M, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Shadowhunters - Freeform, Spoilers, Supernatural Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-06 13:14:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 46
Words: 94,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15886779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forever_Hopeless/pseuds/Forever_Hopeless
Summary: Elder Demons- demons that are from the bible and ancient timesHuman Soul Demons- twisted human souls that have been trapped in hell, or created by the Mark of CainThe Sight- the ability to see demons, angels, downworlders, monsters and supernatural creatures.Shadowhunters- descendants of Jonathan Shadowhunter. He drank the angel Raziel's blood, mixed with human blood, from the Mortal CupMortal Cup- a cup that creates more Shadowhunters when drank from.Mortal Sword- a sword that can force people to tell the truth. Broken.Mortal Mirror- Lake Lynn. Toxic water can cause hallucinations and death.Mundanes- regular humans.Hunters- Mundanes with the Sight.Downworlders- Humans with demon diseases and/or half demonic heritage. Vampires, Werewolves, Warlocks, and SeeliesWarlocks- Half demon, half human. Immortals. Most have magic.Seelies- catch-all term. Half angel, half demon. Immortals.Nephilim- refers to Shadowhunters and children of humans and angels/archangels.Arch Nephilim- refers to Nephilim that are children of archangels.Moroi- a mortal vampire that doesn't kill the people they feed on. They possess one of five abilities; fire, water, earth, air, and spirit.Dhampir- half-human, half-Moroi. They're stronger and more physically fit than humans and the fragile Moroi. They don't have any powers. Usually, two Dhampir cannot reproduce together, only a Dhampir and a Moroi or Dhampirs and humans.Strigoi- an immortal vampire that kills the people they feed on and can only come out at night. There are two different ways to become a Strigoi; a Moroi kills the person they are feeding on or a Strigoi changes the person the person forcefully. The Moroi lose their gifts after being changed into a Strigoi.Spirit- the fifth element Moroi have the ability to wield. Spirit is rare and has many uses. Its most prominent use is healing, though there are many other things that can be done with Spirit. It uses the users' essence to power itself, leaving the user mentally and physically drained. It slowly drives the users crazy. The more it's used, The more 'the Darkness', which is what the ability uses to drive the users crazy, grows, the less mentally stable they are.Important Facts:Nephilim born of a human and an angel are only in the womb for about six months.Arch Nephilim mothers die during childbirth because the children accidentally drain all of the energy from their body, due to mortal bodies not being able to handle their power.The names of Arthur and Andrew Blackthorns’ parents are not stated, so I named them Haley and James.Andrew Blackthorns birthday is also not listed, and I'm not quite sure if he's a year older than Arthur Blackthorn or if they are twins, so if I messed up something, I apologize.I do not own Supernatural, Shadowhunters, The Mortal Instrument series, and movies or anything other than my OC's and their plot lines. Do not steal my work.





	1. 0

**Author's Note:**

> Elder Demons- demons that are from the bible and ancient times  
> Human Soul Demons- twisted human souls that have been trapped in hell, or created by the Mark of Cain  
> The Sight- the ability to see demons, angels, downworlders, monsters and supernatural creatures.  
> Shadowhunters- descendants of Jonathan Shadowhunter. He drank the angel Raziel's blood, mixed with human blood, from the Mortal Cup  
> Mortal Cup- a cup that creates more Shadowhunters when drank from.  
> Mortal Sword- a sword that can force people to tell the truth. Broken.  
> Mortal Mirror- Lake Lynn. Toxic water can cause hallucinations and death.  
> Mundanes- regular humans.  
> Hunters- Mundanes with the Sight.  
> Downworlders- Humans with demon diseases and/or half demonic heritage. Vampires, Werewolves, Warlocks, and Seelies  
> Warlocks- Half demon, half human. Immortals. Most have magic.  
> Seelies- catch-all term. Half angel, half demon. Immortals.  
> Nephilim- refers to Shadowhunters and children of humans and angels/archangels.  
> Arch Nephilim- refers to Nephilim that are children of archangels.  
> Moroi- a mortal vampire that doesn't kill the people they feed on. They possess one of five abilities; fire, water, earth, air, and spirit.  
> Dhampir- half-human, half-Moroi. They're stronger and more physically fit than humans and the fragile Moroi. They don't have any powers. Usually, two Dhampir cannot reproduce together, only a Dhampir and a Moroi or Dhampirs and humans.  
> Strigoi- an immortal vampire that kills the people they feed on and can only come out at night. There are two different ways to become a Strigoi; a Moroi kills the person they are feeding on or a Strigoi changes the person the person forcefully. The Moroi lose their gifts after being changed into a Strigoi.  
> Spirit- the fifth element Moroi have the ability to wield. Spirit is rare and has many uses. Its most prominent use is healing, though there are many other things that can be done with Spirit. It uses the users' essence to power itself, leaving the user mentally and physically drained. It slowly drives the users crazy. The more it's used, The more 'the Darkness', which is what the ability uses to drive the users crazy, grows, the less mentally stable they are.  
> Important Facts:  
> Nephilim born of a human and an angel are only in the womb for about six months.  
> Arch Nephilim mothers die during childbirth because the children accidentally drain all of the energy from their body, due to mortal bodies not being able to handle their power.  
> The names of Arthur and Andrew Blackthorns’ parents are not stated, so I named them Haley and James.  
> Andrew Blackthorns birthday is also not listed, and I'm not quite sure if he's a year older than Arthur Blackthorn or if they are twins, so if I messed up something, I apologize.  
> I do not own Supernatural, Shadowhunters, The Mortal Instrument series, and movies or anything other than my OC's and their plot lines. Do not steal my work.

_December 6, 2009_

_The child sleeps peacefully in his parents' bed, his short blonde hair ruffled on his head, the slight red tint noticeable in the stream of light shining in from the hallway. The blankets of the bed are pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around his favorite teddy bear. His parents, standing a door or two down, argue about the rate the child seems to be growing._

_Having being born two days previously, you would expect him to be in a crib. Except, with his now ten-year-old sized body does not fit in the crib they had set up in the room next to their own, which was supposed to be the nursery. They were concerned, each having a different idea on how to solve this newfound problem, leading them into a heated discussion. It was because of this argument that Clary and Jace Herondale, the young boy's parents, did not realize that a shape of a man was looming over their son._

_The man looming over him, trying to alter the fate his fellow Heavenly Warriors were currently deciding, was working on revealing the boy's chest. The image he needed was already fresh in his mind, just needing to be burned into the child's skin to keep him safe._

_You see, the man- who is not a man, but an Angel- is trying to protect the powerful child that he feels strongly for, safe. His brethren above were currently discussing what to do about the rapidly aging child. While most of them were already decided on killing the child, he had argued that keeping him alive could be useful._

_Angels are not supposed to feel, but he was not like most Angels. His Brother-in-Arms and closest companion, Castiel, had proven that when he nearly convinced him to fall alongside him. Ithuriel, however, did not believe that the Winchesters were worth falling from Heaven for. Clarissa Morgenstern and Jonathan Herondale, people with his blood running through their veins, he would risk himself for without question. Nobody deserves what her father did to them, himself included._

_So, of course, how could he not protect their creation? After all, he is the way he is because of his blood. It would not be fair to the child if he dies for his grandfather's mistake of being an awful human, and his parents’ love for one another. That awful man- and the child's parents with too much Angel blood for their child's own good, which was caused by said awful man- is how Ithuriel ended up here. Branding a child in his sleep with an Enochian symbol that will protect him from the Angels; and his own power._

_The child's cries of pain do not go unheard from his parents, of course. They come rushing into the room, Seraph blades drawn and pointed at the back of the man standing over their son. He had been trying to shush the child, but quickly turned around, revealing an unknown face with the Angelic light flickering beneath the surface._

_Jace raises his blade, pointing it directly at his head, "Who are you and what the hell do you think you are doing?" The blonde Shadowhunter's gold eyes seemed as hardened as, well, solid gold. His wife, the shorter redhead with just as much skill as him, was protecting and soothing her child._

_Ithuriel slowly moves forward, enough where he could be seen easily in the light, "Relax, Jonathan Herondale, I was doing nothing but protecting the child." He gestured to the symbol burned into the child's shoulder, opposite of the one with the star-shaped scar of a Herondale male, "I was protecting your child. The Rune will bind the powers my blood coursing through your veins- and now his- has given him. Instead of the abilities that would have been bestowed on him, he will grow up as a normal Shadowhunter, the only breed of Nephilim that is not to be hunted down and killed."_

_Jace's blade slowly lowers, though every adult- and Celestial Being- knows that he could slice him through just as quickly as before. His wife, however, is the one to utter anything, "Ithuriel? What are you-"_

_"The symbol will make him a normal Shadowhunter, remove it and he will become one of the other races of Nephilim that is hunted down and killed because of the power and/or secrets they possess within their DNA. Do not break the symbol otherwise, my brethren will hunt all of you down."_

_"Are you... threatening us? We saved your life! We-"_

_"No, Clarissa, this is not a threat. It is but a warning. If I had wanted him to die, I would have killed him in his sleep. I am protecting him, for it is my blood that makes you all this way. Do not remove the symbol, or they will find you three and kill you, and I become an inmate at Angelic Prison." Before the young couple can get another word out, the Angel vanished, leaving a worried set of parents, and the special child, whose life had changed before it truly began, sleeping in his mother's arms. Ryder James Herondale, was he in for a treat when he grew older._

Ryder's P.O.V.- Present Day

Christopher Herondale and Tiberius Blackthorn walk beside me as I move through the crowds of the New York streets. Christopher, or Kit, is standing off to the side, usually making joking comments but mostly explaining my sarcastic remarks to Ty. It's not like I can't, but he seems to take it better when Kit does it. We were talking about everything we could think of.

"What is it like going to Mundane school?" Ty asks, maneuvering around a group of people, keeping his arm linked with Kit's.

Kit shrugs slightly, "This one's for you Ryder, I was homeschool because I had the Sight."

I laugh at this, nudging the blonde boy slightly, "See something scary?"

"Do my Dad's clients count?" He widens his blue eyes to make himself look mock-scared

I snort before moving to answer the grey-eyed boy's original question, "It's weird. Especially when you see the Warlock children wandering around in the halls through their glamours and the Mundanes don't. It's also a different history class, obviously. And you can't take anybody to the Institute, so I'm always going to new places."

The black haired boy nods as Kit buts in again, "Speaking of new places, where are we going?"

I glance at him as I turn the corner, "Topanga's. Best food in town. Yes, it's better than Taki's Diner. Tell my parents I said that and I will ban you from the Institute."

Kit laughs, "You can't ban me from the Institute... right? I mean, Jace wouldn't let you, obviously, but is that actually a thing?"

Ty shakes his head, "No. Unless you are a criminal, you can stay at any Institute. Even is the people don't like you."

I open the door for them, walking in last. Inside, the middle tables are being occupied by some close friends of mine. One of them, the blonde girl with bright green eyes, walks over to me. She throws her arm over my shoulder, causing her dress to ride up. I laugh, pretending to cover my view of her legs, "Jesus, girl, can your dress get any shorter?"

She wiggles her eyebrows towards the new boys, "Hi, I'm Ava-Mary, but call me Avery. And I'm not interested before you think about flirting. I am happy together with the pretty brunette with the bright blue eyes. Her name is Andi, try to get with her and I will put you six feet under."

The boys' eyes widen, looking slightly worried. Avery looks between them and me and starts laughing, "I'm kidding guys, Jeez. I wouldn't flirt with Kirstin though, your friend here might strangle you."

"Shut up, A. I don't like her. Anyway, this," I gesture to the boys, " is Kit and Ty. Kit is my..."

Kit laughs slightly, "Some form of a distant relative."

"Yeah, that. Ty is his..."

"Boyfriend."

"Yeah. So they are in town for about another week, and I figured I'd let them meet you now." I turn to look at the Shadowhunters, "The group dynamic is odd, but just go with it."

Before either of the boys could respond, Avery grabs each of their hands pulling them towards the group of teenagers. "Okay, so they need the quick rundown, nobody moves from your seats, and respond when I say your name."

"Okay, Bossy Bitch." Kirstin jokes, her blue-green eyes watching her cousin's reaction. After Avery flips her off, she also starts introducing everybody. Every time someone joins the group, the blonde explains who everybody is.

"The bitchy black haired girl is Kirstin. Ignore her, I do. The blonde next to her is her cousin Jack, he's dating Mason. He's the brunette on the other side of her. Lucas is next to him, Riley is next to him, and she's followed by Maya. Maya's older sister, Andi, is next to her, then we jump over my seat to Zay. Next to him is Smackle and Farkle is next to her. And you already know Ryder, so I think that is everyone." I sit across from Kirstin as the two boys sit next to me. The group keeps talking like we didn't interrupt, adding them to the conversation smoothly. Sitting here, surrounded by regular Mundanes, is definitely a fine way to spend today.

  
  



	2. 1

_ July 23, 2001 _

_ The hospital room was anything but silent. Half of the people in the room were all trying to get the woman's heart to start beating again, the other half seem dazed by the child that had been born out of the bright light of her mother's life draining. A blue woman was holding the quiet child. The baby wasn't crying, but it was obvious she was perfectly healthy. The blue woman, a warlock name Catarina Loss, had done everything that would normally be done by the nurse, and the mother. She was the one Amelia trusted to carry out everything she needed to be carried out. She would name the baby, take her home, and keep her safe. Eventually, though, the baby will be taken to its Uncles, preferably when its powers are no longer a threat. Nurse Loss, however, had to leave the child in the nursery at this point in time. This is where everything drastically falls off the course set up. _

_ The Archangel stands over his daughter, an Angel Blade hidden in the jeans his vessel is required to wear. He was here to kill her, so no one will know it was him who broke the most sacred law. At least, if any Angels are to discover the truth, that is what he would tell them. _

_ While it was true, he does not want to be discovered, the more accurate reason he was in here is that the child is the reason the woman he loves is dead. He was going to kill the baby for taking his Amelia away from him. For Amelia happily letting the child take her life. _

_ The young woman, Amelia, made him feel human emotions, something Angels are not supposed to have. After he realized that they would not go away, he went down to kill the woman. However, the plan derailed as he not only fell into bed with her but into love as well. All of these actions lead to this moment. Falling into bed with her lead to the conception of the child, falling in love with Amelia lead to him wanting the baby dead. Him being in trouble could theoretically make him want her gone just as much, but revenge is the true fuel of his actions. _

_ He pulled his Angel Blade out, pointing it at her heart, deciding to look away from the place it would enter. He ended up catching the babies eyes. Something about the startling blue-green eyes seemed to strike a nerve inside him.  _ They remind him of her mother. _ The innocent child under the point of his blade stares into his eyes as he drew back... and drops the blade on the ground. He couldn't do it. _

How far he had fallen _ , He thinks bitterly,  _ The Great and Powerful Michael, the ruthless Warrior of Heaven, can't kill this dreadful abomination. _ He stared at the little baby girl in the bassinet. _

No, she wasn't an abomination. She was a child. Flesh and blood. Flesh and blood that they had created; he had created. _He carefully two of his fingers on her right shoulder, burning an Enochian mark to bind powers and hide her from the Angels. He picks her up, deciding this would be the first (and last) time he'd ever hold or see her. His child._ What did the nurse name her? Kirstin Mackenzie Black, _He recalls,_ What an odd name.

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Present Day

I stand outside the door of Topanga's, waiting for Avery, Andi, Mason, and Jack. I open my notebook, deciding to spend the time doing something useful. While I stand there, the door opens. I glance up, seeing Ryder, Kit, and Ty standing there, heading in the opposite direction of me. Ryder glances back for a second, before looking back at his friends. The other Shadowhunters seem to shrug at him.

I go back to reading, though it was more staring at the page as Iet my thoughts take over. Personally, I was- still am- unsure why Ryder goes to normal school. He has Runes, so he's clearly training to become a Shadowhunter, but he still goes to Mundane school. He doesn't seem to realize that Avery and I are Hunters, he hasn't said anything to us or anybody else. Since he hasn't said anything to anyone else, we figured it best not to tell him we know what he is, both agreeing that it could be a useful piece of information to have in our back pockets.

I feel an arm around my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts, "So when are you all leaving for Kansas? Or are you staying with Tony still?"

I look up at Ryder for a second watching his features before responding, his dull gold eyes had a darker green tint in the afternoon lighting, and the shadows on his face made him look older than his seventeen years. The hand resting lightly on my shoulder has an eye-shaped rune on it, a dull black ink that could resemble a tattoo. "So when are you all leaving for Kansas? Or are you staying with Tony still?"

I look up at Ryder for a second watching his features before responding, his dull gold eyes had a darker green tint in the afternoon lighting, and the shadows on his face made him look older than his nineteen years, "Uh, well my Uncle is supposed to get here tonight, so we are leaving tomorrow morning. Sam is going to fly with us back, so Dean doesn't have to. So... no, no staying with Tony."

"Bummer... And Andi is going with you?" His eyes never leave my face as I try to avoid looking into his pretty,  _ odd _ eyes.

I nod slightly, "Yep- Yeah. Mason too. Weird that they have graduated already. Weird that I'm only a few classes away from graduating."

He leans back slightly, looking shocked, "Really? But you're, like, three years younger than me!"

"Two and a half, I think. And you graduated this year too. Everybody did." I close the book, looking over to the sidewalk at the last place I saw his friends. He seems to follow my gaze.

"Yeah, they left without me. So... Does that mean you're coming back to New York next school year?"

I shake my head deciding to look towards the door, "I think I am actually going to finish up online. That means staying with my Uncles. Of course, we'll visit all the time, Andi has family here, Mason too, and of course, we have Tony. Plus, now that Nat and Sam are dating, her friends are another reason to come back and visit." He nods, opening his mouth to respond. He never gets the chance, however, because the others come outside. I stand up, quick to stand next to Jack. "Are you guys done saying goodbye?"

"Are you?" Avery comments, wiggling her eyebrows, her arm around her girlfriend's waist. I roll my eyes, tucking my notebook into the bag I had on the floor next to me.

"I've been ready since I came out here. Let's go."

"Okay, okay." Andi jokes as our group starts walking down the street, the opposite way as everyone else. I turn around, walking backward to wave goodbye to Ryder.


	3. 2

_ April 5, 2017 _

_ The Men of Letters Bunker was in nearly complete silence. The many sleeping rooms were all empty, all the main inhabitants having gone for an outing. The dining room, the war room, the kitchen, every room was quiet. Except for the armory. The armory was full of the sounds of someone using blades on dummies. The girl using them had, of course, been here before but did not think to let anyone know she was coming. _

_ The door opened with a loud noise. The Winchester trio, the angel, the ex-spy, and Jack, the newest Nephilim, file through the door, that swung closed as soon as they enter. They begin the normal routine they have established within the three months since Jack had joined them. Dean and Cas would head up to their room, try to contact the youngest Winchester, and then watch TV or do something else that couples would do. Jack would go directly to his room, using his laptop to learn new things about humanity. Avery would not-so-subtly steal a glass of whiskey, before heading to bed. Sam would stay up later, look up new cases and try to find new ways to get Mary out of the Apocalypse World, Nat eventually convincing him he needs sleep. _

_ Tonight, however, as Dean and Cas made their way to their room when they heard the noises coming from the armory. With a gun pulled, and the Angel ready for some sort of fight, they moved quickly and quietly before being in the doorway of the armory. In a way only people who have been close for as long as they have, they simultaneously turn the corner, Dean's gun raised... And pointed at his niece, who was currently practicing her sword fighting skills. She tends to avoid using guns, unlike most Hunters and prefers to use the blades she makes. _

_ She quickly turns as she hears him disarm his gun, setting the blade in the place where it hasn't sat for over six months. She smiles a smile that, while on her is probably the brightest they've seen in years, would seem dull to an average person, "Uncle De! Hey," she moves swiftly, wrapping her arms around him in a hug, before pulling back and pulling Cas into one next, "Hello, Cassie." _

_ He snorts at the nickname she had given Cas as a kid, "Hey Kirstin. Come on, bet Sammy, Nat, and Avery would love to see you." _

Jack's P.O.V.- Present Day

I stand in the War Room of the Bunker. We were trying to find where Lucifer, my biological father, went; we being Avery, Andi, Mason, Kirstin, Sam, Dean, and Cas. Now, with him on the loose, we have two enemies trying to kill us or use Kirstin and me for our powers. Lucifer, obviously, wants me to help destroy the world, and Kirstin under his control so she couldn't stop him- us. The Angels need us to make more of them because they are slowly dying out. _ Is it wrong of me to think that might be a good thing? They aren't as nice as you would think. _

Ever since we got out of the Apocalypse World, the Bunker has usually been jam-packed full of people, this being one of the few days of the week that the Bunker is empty. Or this part of it, anyway. Bobby and Mary had been working with Tony to alter the Accords, registering the branches of the Men of Letters to the government; Mary now in Britain with Ketch, rebuilding the British Men of Letters from scratch. Obviously, Mary was there to keep Ketch in line, along with Charlie so Mary can still come to visit her family.

"How do we know that the Angels haven't already caught him?" Kirstin asks, perching on the edge of the War Room Map Table. "I mean it's not like we can contact them, they'll try to kill you guys and make us their slaves."

"I mean, they could go for the 'You could be a Princess and Prince' approach again. That was a fun encounter." Avery jokes, leaning back in her chair, her arm casually over Andi's shoulders. Is that how normal couples act, or just them?

Kirstin snorts, moving her arms out in weird motions as she drops her voice to a deeper octave, "'Come with us, help us create more Angels and we'll let you rule. You could live in luxury, have whatever you could possibly think of! It is your Destiny!'" She returns her voice to the normal way she talks, a smooth voice with a slight clipped edge to it, "I mean, what do they think we are? Normal people?"

"Nuh, no way! We're part of Team Free Will." Avery, flipping her dirty blonde hair over her shoulder as she says the 'team name'. Dean and Sam were watching with amused faces, Cas however, seemed slightly uncomfortable. Kirstin must have picked up on this because she... well she straight up acknowledged it. She's not one to hold her tongue around us, often coming off rude, abrasive, and often disrespectful, or a rambling mess.

"Hells yeah we are!" She glances towards the three men at the center of the room, "Alright, Cassie, I hate to say it, but you look like you're trying to take a shit. What's up?"

I laugh slightly at her crude comment as Cas starts to speak, "I was thinking that if you are done, can we start thinking of ways to find Lucifer before he gets more powerful?"

"Anything you wish, Cassie. So, Jack Attack, you got any ideas." She slides off the table grabbing her tablet and messing with it.

"Well, Angels can't fly anymore, right? What if we just send his picture to the police, and try to find out where he was last spotted. If we find where he was last spotted, we could try expanding out from there towards the direction he seems to be heading." My idea was met with seven surprised looks. "What?"

"That's a really good idea, Kid, don't get me wrong, but how did you even think of that?" Dean questions as Sam and Kirstin start to set up a way to send the information they need the cops to have to some of their cop friends; Donna, Jody, and Rose- Mason's mom.

I smile, sitting next to Kirstin, "I watch a lot of crime shows. They find people a way similar to this." Dean chuckles, shaking his head before turning to the three other teens in the room.

"So, while these two do their nerd thing, who wants to go with me to get food?" Mason and Avery shoot up out of their seats, racing towards the garage. Avery definitely got Dean's appetite. Dean laughs as Andi shrugs getting out of her seat and walking out of the room, her high heels clacking slightly and her cheerful laugh following her out of the room.

Cas looks at Dean and I before speaking, "Jack, while they are searching, and everybody else is getting the food, would you like to train? Kirstin can catch up later."

I nod at him before tapping Kristin's shoulder, bringing her attention off of the tablet in her hands and onto me. She hums a questioning sound.

"Is Cas and I training okay with you? I know you need help too and-"

She cuts me off, "Oh, yeah. It's totally okay with me, you need more work than I do. Not that I mean you're bad, I just mean that I know how to protect myself. Not that- God I need to stop talking- Yes. You can, please go before I say something else that might offend you. Gotta get my filter back.”

I laugh at her rant, "What type of filter do you need? I can pick one up at the store and bring it back."

"Umm... That's not what I- Cas will tell you what I meant, 'kay? I just gotta help Sam with this thing and- Bye, Jack Attack."

I stand up, smiling as I walk towards Castiel. As I reach him, I turn around and state, "You ramble a lot. It's fun."

I turn to walk away and feel a book hit the wall next to my back, "Shut up ya jerk." I laugh as Cas and I head to the armory.

#

I peek my head out of my room, hearing a door open. Usually, Kirstin and I are the only ones up at this time of the night, or in the morning because we don't sleep very often. Cas is also up, he never sleeps, but he tends to hang out in Dean's room. Though, he won't explain why.

As expected, it was Kirstin's door I had heard. Instead of her night shorts and one of her uncles' undershirts, she was dressed in jeans and a black zipped up jacket. She had a full duffle bag with her.

"Where are you going?" I ask, coming up behind her. She jumps spinning around towards me, nearly hitting me with the bag she swung, an obvious sign that she was startled.

"Jack! You scared me. You are... really good at sneaking up on people. That's a good thing though. Anyways... I was just, actually, heading out." She speaks quickly, stumbling over her words occasionally.

I point to her duffle bag, "You guys only take those when you go on hunts. Or we head back to New York, but you are finished with school for the school year. Are Dean and Sam taking you on another hunt? Your earlier argument I overheard made it seem like they didn't want you to go."

She bites her lip, a weird look comes across her face, one I've never seen on her before, though I've seen it on Sam and Dean a lot. She's scared. She's scared of me. That's odd.  _ We're the same type of being why is she scared of me? _ "Actually, the boys are staying here. I'm heading out on my own."

I feel my face scrunch up as I try to show my understanding, and newfound confusion, "So they don't know you are leaving, do they? That is why I scared you."

We hear a door opening down the hall from us, Cas' voice ringing out, "Jack, Kirstin? What are you guys doing?" I hear his footsteps heading towards us.

Kirstin drops her voice to a whisper, pulling me into a quick hug, "Don't tell them 'til morning. I love you, J. See you later." And she disappears as she pulls away.

Cas comes around the corner barely a second after she disappears, looking confused, "Where did Kirstin go?"

I tilt my head to the side for a second.  _ Lying is bad, but helping Kirstin is good. Hmm... _ "She went on a hunt. I don't know where, though. Will the boys be mad that I couldn't stop her?"

  
  
  



	4. 3

_ December 31, 1982 _

_ It was New Year's Eve, of course it was. That would explain why John's favorite bar was so busy and rowdy, opposite of the normally quiet place he would come to have a few beers after a fight with Mary. He'd go home after the few beers, often times apologizing, but more often than not sleeping on the couch and waking up an hour earlier than normal so his son won't notice that his parents are having problems. _

_ His parents that are having more problems than they currently know how to deal with. Which, of course, is how John ended up here in the first place. This argument was the worse they'd had in a long time. He knew that later on, they would probably blame it on Mary's pregnancy hormones. Tonight was different than most nights he came here; instead of the few usual beers, he decided to go for a few beers and some whiskey. A lot of whiskey. _

_ It was New Year's Eve and Haley Blackthorn had just finished an awful hunt. A local vampire clan kidnapping children and draining them of their blood. Children barely older than her two boys at home. Drinking was a way to wipe the image of child corpses out of her Shadowhunter mind. And, of course, it was New Year's Eve. _

_ They met about halfway through her time at the loud bar, both equally hammered. He thought she was pretty and looked like someone interesting to talk to. She thought he was hot and figured she could use the company. They didn't mean to end up in her hotel bed. They just wanted somewhere where they could hear themselves think, and have alcohol on hand. That was the first place they thought of. The bed was the last place they'd thought they'd end up. She was married. They each had kids at home. He had a wife. Who was four months pregnant. _

_ They didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. In the morning, after she'd driven him home, they agreed to never see each other again. Of course, that was until she found out she was pregnant. Then everything went to hell. _

_ Of course, she didn't know he'd had a wife, so she sent him a picture of the child in the mail, with her name and number at the bottom. Writing down that address nine months beforehand was probably the smartest thing she'd ever thought of. At least she thought it was until his wife called her instead of him. Mary Winchester was furious. John Winchester was screwed. Dean and Sam Winchester, and Andrew, Arthur, and Amelia Blackthorn were all oblivious. _

_ November 25, 1984 _

_ The one-year-old Amelia Blackthorn was playing in the Institute Library, 'helping' her father put away books as her brothers playing nearby. Well, father for all intents and purposes. The couple had decided it was the best thing to do after she showed up after the hunt last year, bawling in guilt about what she did. Her husband, James, being the forgiving man he is, barely took two months to forgive what had happened, but not forget. It definitely slapped back on him when she found out she was pregnant. Though now, he had taken Amelia in like his own, let her keep his last name, treated her how a father should. _

_ Of course, when she got older they were going to tell her and her brothers, Andrew and Arthur, the truth. Her father kept tabs on her, with Haley and James' permission and help, of course. John was a lot harder to reach after his wife died, but everytime something changed, they'd be notified. Anytime she sent him pictures, she'd send it to a P.O. box he'd set up a while ago. He'd check it once a month, always kept the keepsakes and pictures that were sent. _

_ John, of course, hadn't told his boys until Sam and Amelia were thirteen, Dean seventeen. He didn't want them to hate him for what he did to their mother but soon realized they already hated him, at least Sam did. And, as it turns out, Dean had already known, answering John's phone one time when Haley called. About a year later, Amelia had ended up joining them for a while, having run away. _

_ It went like that; she would go back and forth whenever she felt it was fit, never doing what her parents decided for her until Amelia had fallen in love with Michael, then she tended to stay close to John, Sam, and Dean. She kept in contact, of course. Until March 2001. She completely cutting off her Shadowhunter family, and hunter family alike. _

_ April 3, 2001 _

_ Amelia Blackthorn giggles as she rolls over on the bed, staring up at the ceiling of the random motel room they had checked into. Her family, or technically her father and his family, were staying here a few rooms down. Being far enough away from them, she decided to pray to her favorite Archangel. That, of course, lead to them ending up in bed together. After all, she was only seventeen, a Winchester, had a hotel room completely alone, and no supervision around for at least an hour. Though, tonight, both parties had news for each other. They just didn't know it was the same news. _

_ "So, Michael, you said you had something to tell me?" The afterglow instantly came crashing down as the reality of what they needed to tell each other hit them. _

_ "You said the same thing too if I recall correctly?" The vessel's blue eyes met the young woman's own blue-green eyes. She shrugged noncommittally as he sat up on the bed, pulling the covers up to his hips after her gaze caught on his junk. She flicked her eyes up to his before sitting up also, not bothering to pull the sheet up over herself. _

_ "Yeah. We could... I don't know? Say it at the same time?" _

_ "I am okay with that if you are." Neither of them met each other's eyes as they counted down from three. _

_ "3... 2... 1... I'm pregnant." “3... 2... 1... You’re pregnant." They say at the same time, followed by two, "You knew?" _


	5. 4

_Sophomore Year_

_Ryder Herondale isn't what you'd consider popular, while he had met or heard of everybody at the school at least once, he only had a group of friends he was actually close to. These people were talked about a lot in middle school and are still in the public eye in the high school, they just fade into the group easier than before. People called the main ones 'The Core Four', Maya Hart, Riley Matthews, Andi Hart, and Farkle Minkus. Then it became Riley's friends after Lucas joined, followed by Zay and Smackle. Ryder had joined them freshman year after Andi decided she liked hanging out with Mason more than being in the whole school's view._

_This year, everybody was buzzing for a whole new reason. Two new students, about a week into the year and there were already new students. They were, as far as everyone knew, both girls. Assumed to be related, everybody is eager to catch a glimpse, hoping for the best; which probably included models or something._

_Ryder hadn't exactly planned to scope out the new girl, or one of them anyway, but he knew nearly everybody in the school. She was either someone he forgot about, or new, and he was placing his bets on the latter. Him being "the social one", as Andi dubbed him, he wanted to talk to her._

_When he got to the locker she was standing in front of, she seemed to be having an issue getting the locker open, and she was definitely not afraid to show it, "Stupid freaking lock!" Hitting the locker repeatedly, shifting the heavy looking backpack on her shoulder, some of her black hair getting caught under the strap. She was holding a page with her classes, grade, and her locker combo on it. Freshman with three sophomore classes. A smart one, cool._

_He laughs, causing a squeak to erupt from her, turning towards him, blue eyes wide. Ryder smiles, leaning against the locker next to her, "Need some help?"_

_That earned him a scoff, "Does it look like I need help from you?"_

_He glances towards the locker, then at her, raising an eyebrow jokingly, "Uh, yes, very much so."_

_"Well, I don't. See you never." She goes back to trying to open the locker, her bag sliding down her arm slightly as she adjusts her position to face it._

_He snorts, "You're pretty mean for a Freshman." Her face scrunches up in an awkward expression, glancing at him again. After a few choice words muttered, she took a slight step to the side, gesturing to give it a try._

_"Just because I'm a freshman, doesn't mean I'm a stereotype. You didn't hear me commenting on how you look like a jock. Not everybody fits into stereotypes." Snorting again at the jock comment, he nods along. Turning to the locker, checking the number, before nodding quietly he gesture to come slightly closer._

_"Okay, so you need to push the lock in slightly harder than you were and give it an extra spin before you put in the combination. The lock is weird on this one." She pulls on her strap before scooting over and trying it. When it opens on the first try, she nods slightly before looking at him again._

_"Thanks. Was this your old locker?" She leans down putting her stuff from her backpack into the locker._

_"Uh, no. A friend of mine. She moved away. And before you ask, no she wasn't my girlfriend." She shrugged her shoulders._

_"Cool. Do you make it your mission to befriend everyone here?" I laugh as she closes the locker._

_"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryder raises an eyebrow, sarcasm clear on his face._

_"Means, I saw you watching me the first three times I tried to put the combo in. Now that is either because you're a creep that likes to watch people, or you were trying to figure out if I'm new here."_

_"Or because I thought you were beautiful." He adds smoothly. His flirting earns a sarcastic laugh from the girl._

_"Okay, Strawberry. Flattery won't get you anywhere with me. Gonna have to try harder to befriend me." He gets an idea, attempts to put on what Riley would call a 'Flirt Face', a slight smirk on his face. Flirting could at least get her name, right? Or humor._

_"Who says I just want to be friends?" He wiggles his eyebrows and pursed his lips jokingly. She laughs patting his shoulder before turning and walking away. "Wait! What's your name?"_

_She turns, walking backward, "You really want to know?"_

_"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know." She stops walking, pursing her lip before opening her mouth to speak._

_"What's your name?"_

_"Ryder." He looks at her expectantly, getting more curious by the second. He couldn't say it was silent, of course not. The bell was about to ring and everyone was trying to get to their stuff and get to their next class._

_She starts walking again, laughing. After she gets almost to the end of the hallway, she turns around, yelling, "You want my name? You gotta earn it. Bye, Ryder."_

_He groans before yelling after her, "Challenge accepted, New Girl!" Oh, what a weird start to a beautiful friendship._

Ryder's P.O.V.- Present Day

I shift impatiently in my seat, growing annoyed. My mom had texted me ten minutes earlier, asking me to come to the library. I came here within two minutes, and she's nowhere to be found. I grab my phone, deciding to play on my phone. I open a game and wait for it to load. This would be the first time since school ended nearly three months ago, that we were all sitting down together at the same time, and her, nor my dad, can be on time. It makes sense, of course. They're busy people; they run the Institute and are always taking missions from the Clave.

"Good, you're here. We all need to talk." My mom enters the room as soon as the game loads. I close the app, looking at the group of people that were here. Uncle Alec and Magnus, Uncle Simon and Aunt Isabelle, my dad, and a random man.

"Why?" I question eying the man next to my parents. He was average height and had brown hair. His brown eyes seemed inquisitive as he watched me, glancing at my covered right shoulder every few minutes.

My mom glances around the room before shooting me a questioning look, "Where are Kit and Ty?"

"Well, Julian and Emma are looking for somebody, and they decided they wanted to help. They found some information that I guess was useful." I reply glancing at Magnus, my mom looking over at him quickly after.

The looks seem not to catch his attention, as he was staring at the new guy... who was still staring at me. This feels like an intense staring competition. Alec nudges him slightly, and that seems to catch his attention, "Yes, I sent them back nearly an hour ago. I told you this as we were walking here, Biscuit. What is so urgent in your mind that you weren't listening to me? I have a feeling it has something to do with the Angel lurking behind you."

"Angel? Him? Seriously?" I look at the guy again snorting in attempt to stop the laugh bubbling in my throat, "He looks more like a Mundane than an Angel, Magnus."

"That is simply because the vessel I chose to come here in, is indeed a Mundane who believes deeply in the Lord's purpose. Which, frankly, is more than I can say for my fellow Angels."

My laughter quickly fades as he begins to talk, "Wait, what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," my dad leans against the table as he spoke, looking like he was told awful news, "The Angels are doing something they shouldn't be."

"What, did they not clean their wings?" I joke, earning a heavy chuckle from my dad. "I mean, why do we need to know if the Angels are being bad? The Archangels, Raziel, or even the G-man could knock their asses back in their place."

"Ryder!" I'm quickly scolded by my mother. I start responding with an apology when the so-called Angel interrupts me... rude.

"Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel are dead, or as good as dead. Raziel tends to keep to himself if you have not noticed by the way he exterminates any human that summons him." I flinch slightly as he speaks, "God is currently missing."

"How can you lose God? He's God. I mean that would be like losing the Sun while staring at the sky." Simon questions from his spot next to my aunt.

"He is the most powerful being alive. Which means that if he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. He and his sister, Amara; the Darkness, disappeared together. He has not been heard from or spotted since. That brings us to the problem at hand."

"Lucifer is out of his hell cage. And he is currently ruling Heaven. Ithuriel decided he didn't want to work for Satan and came to tell us what was going on." My mom sums up what sounds like a really long story.

"Why would Angels want to be ruled by the Devil? They shunned him. He rebelled." My aunt Isabelle questions, moving towards the table my parents and the Angel were sitting around. I move to join the group that seems to slowly be huddling together around the table.

"They don't particularly enjoy Lucifer ruling over them, but they need it, technically. There has been war after war in Heaven, we are low on numbers. It does not help that Metatron had cause us to fall. Lucifer is the only being powerful enough to create more Angels. The only one willing, as it appears."

"So there are other people powerful enough to do this, but instead of going to them, you guys just decided, 'Hey, the Devil seems like the best option. Let's call him up and see if he wants to command the Heavenly Army.'" Alec's flat voice seems to piss the Wings off.

"Yes, but in doing so we would have had to make children slaves. The others were okay with that, but I would much rather be lead by a willing Devil than an unwilling child." He regains his composure, slowly breathing, "There are two other people powerful enough, possibly three. These two we know of, are children of Archangels and humans. Lucifer's child was recently born, however, he grew very quickly. He looks like a teenager, a nineteen-year-old. The other one, Michael's daughter, was born in 2001 and powers were held back by an Enochian mark on her shoulder. She was the daughter of a Shadowhunter, also."

"What? I think we would know if we had a child like that roaming around."

"She grew up as a Hunter, Mundanes who hunt the supernatural. She shares a relative with a very powerful set of brothers, a very powerful set of Hunters. She didn't grow up with the Clave. The third one, I am the only Angel who knows of its existence. It's different, not born from Angels directly but-"

"Ryder, can you do me a favor, please? Can you leave for a minute, I'd like to discuss something that I don't believe you need to here." My mom cuts him off as he was describing the third being.

"But-"

"Ryder. Please." It wasn't a question anymore.

I roll my eyes, standing up, "Whatever. I'm gonna go train. Call me when you need me." I lie smoothly. I leave, as told heading towards the weapons room. I tuck around the corner until I hear the library door shut. I then turn and shoot up the stairs.

I reach a room directly above the library, using the open rune on the locked door, before sitting on the ground, tracing another rune that would allow what I need to happen. The floor seems to ripple before revealing the library through the floor. I draw another rune on my arm so I can hear them clearly.

"-telling me that he is the kid Ithuriel is talking about?" Alec seems pissed, or as far as I can tell from up here. He? Many possibilities. Probably someone I know, that's why I had to leave the room. What if it's Kit? That would be awesome. I smile at the prospect of Kit having powers

"How is that even possible?" Isabelle asks, leaning forward to prop herself partially on the table.

"The basics seem pretty self-explanatory, Izzy." My dad jokes. My mom hits his arm, and a sigh erupts from his mouth, "It's because of the extra Angel blood in our systems, it gave him these powers. Ithuriel put a symbol that blocks them on his shoulder." My smile slowly fades.  _Oh god._

"So he has powers he can't use. That must drive him crazy." Simon laughs slightly. My dad looks down, while my mom laughs nervously.

"He doesn't even know. Right?" Alec deduces. I feel like I'm going to throw up. Everywhere. Right now.

"No, Ryder doesn't know about the powers, Alec. Call me crazy, but it sounds like a really bad idea to tell him he has powers he can never use for his own s-" I stop listening, grabbing my stele and leaving the room, my blood like fire in my veins, fueling my movement.  _Like mother, like daughter._

I go through the weapons room, grabbing a knife. Quickly dodging another Shadowhunter that's been staying here, I head towards the garden. It's a place where no one ever thinks to look for me because people tend to assume that just 'cause I act like a 'jock-type' I don't like the flowers and herbs up here. I know the name of every single one, however, and often come up here when there are more Shadowhunters than usual at the Institute.

When I reach the metal stairs, I pick up speed, often skipping a stair on the way up. I finally let out in a large breath I didn't realize I was holding. I plop myself onto the ground, pulling my short sleeve up to reveal my right shoulder better. A Rune-like burn was pressed into my skin there. I run my free hand over it slightly, setting the knife next to me momentarily. Do I really want to?

_I mean they lied to me, and I should get a choice in the matter. But they did it because they were scared I would hurt myself. But they don't think I'd be able to control them... I'm doing it. Worse case scenario, my mom has to redraw that stupid Rune._

I grab the knife before I can talk myself out of it, cutting a deep line through the Rune. I wait for a second, expecting something to happen. Nothing. I feel exactly the same. I mean my shoulder hurts but that's obvious. I snort, standing up. I walk towards the bench deeper into the garden.

A weird feeling rushes through my body like a wave. I feel a pulsing coming from my shoulder, another wave hitting me again. And again. And again. The feeling hits me harder every time it appears. My legs give out as an awful feeling appears in my gut. I don't feel myself hit the ground, everything turning black.


	6. 5

_ Two months ago... _

_ "Hey, Uncle De, I killed the shifter. He was one sneaky son of a bitch. Umm...," Kirstin laughs slightly, adjusting her position on the motel bed, "I'm heading back to the Bunker. I'm leaving after I finish this voicemail. I figured you wouldn't answer this late, thankfully. I was hoping you wouldn't so I can just get the yelling done in one go but.." She trails off as she feels another presence in the room. Glancing up from her lap, she sees him standing in front of her. Her phone drops out of her hand, she moves into a fighting position quickly, overlooking the Angel blade that wouldn't make him even flinch. _

_ Lucifer, standing, in the middle of the room, laughs, "Miss me, my darling niece." _

_ She glances around the room before snorting slightly, shifting her position into a forced relaxed one, "You know what? You kind of sound like the creepy uncle that makes the nieces and nephews so uncomfortable, they try to avoid them at all costs. Except replace creepy with evil, and add a dash of psychotic murderer." She cocks her head to the side mockingly, "I'm imagining you at Thanksgiving." _

_ "Oh my Dad, you are more annoying every time we meet, you know that? You must get your sense of humor from those hairless apes you live with. Doesn't matter, though. Wanna know why?" He smiles, plans set up in his head. _

_ "Not particularly." She pretends to chew gum, glancing at her nails, picking at the nonexistent nail polish. _

_ "I came here," he leans forward, stage whispering, "to kill you, Sweetheart." _

_ She sighs, "You know, you can certainly have fun trying. We both know your powers, the important ones, don't work on me. If at all." He laughs snapping his fingers. When nothing happens Kirstin raises her hand, Lucifer crying out as her powers take effect. His body starts to pick up off the ground shaking, "Having performance issues, are we, Luci? That's okay, it happens to every being. You should get that checked out in the Empty." Angels that Lucifer summoned appeared behind Kirstin, one on each side. _

_ "No, I knew what I was doing." He grunts out, pain obvious in his voice. Kirstin's fist starts to tighten, his body starting to smoke. The Angels behind him pull out a set of Enochian handcuffs, "Say hello to my little friends, Niece." They grab her arms, cuffing her quickly before she could kill them. _

_ Lucifer drops to the ground ungracefully, "Thanks for the assist, Underlings. This one is a danger to us all." He quickly stands up bopping her nose, "And herself. You know where to take her, boys. Quickly, quickly. Oh, and then hurry upstairs. We'll be having a meeting on how to get my son to my side." _

_ Kirstin laughs, "You mean to stab you in the side? Because that's how that plan is going to play out. Jack will NEVER join you, he HATES you. Wishes you were dead already. Better uncuff me so I can complete your prince's orders, Sweetheart." _

_ Lucifer rolls his eyes, looking at his guards, "What are you waiting for? Leave before I snap your necks and take her myself!" _

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Present Day

I glare around at the dark, empty room, my blood dripping into my line of sight. My arms, chained to a pole above my head, ache painfully, handcuffed with those stupid Enochian cuffs. My shirt was torn and bloody from all the times they had stabbed or cut me, most of the wounds healed already. While the Enochian cuffs do prevent most of my powers, it only dampens the healing ability I have. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad one. My legs don't touch the ground and barely scrape it if I point my toes

I know that I am in a type of house, that the pole I am hanging from can be taken off and put on from the walls on either side. From what I could see, the walls to my left and right were spray painted with random tags, the wall that I assume is in front of me was blocked by a tarp, I hear it shift whenever someone enters. This means that the door is somewhere on the other side of the tarp. It also means that they have me at a third party location; last I knew Heaven does not look like this and I can definitely say this is not where I was staying. The wall behind me is too far back to tell exactly what it looks like.

I hear a door creak open quietly, the footsteps that follow ring out in the quiet room. At least three different sets. The only other noise is my harsh breathing. Ready for another round of torture. The tarp is pulled back to reveal a face that I've seen one other time since I've been stuck here. Lucifer's second in command. I pull my best fake smile, only giving the two guards a slight glance, "Oh! It's you! Anal, or something like that!"

"My name is Anael, disgusting Winchester." The Angel, woman, whatever you wanted to call her, speaks harshly, though her facial expression never changes from the blank look. She dressed as though she was a businesswoman getting ready for a big meeting.

"Actually, my last name is Black, not Winchester. That's my grandfather. And my uncles. And my cousin. Not me. Sorry, Sweetheart." With a roll of her brown eyes, she looks at the guard next to her, a woman, gesturing to me. One guard, the guy on her other side, moves to the side of the pole, releasing it and causing me to drop to the floor, the pole hitting the ground next to me as the girl released the other side simultaneously. The pole is moved as the girl grabs my arms yanking me up. I try to move away from her, before the guy grabs my arms also, flanking me, "Woah, hey, this is new. What psychological torture? Moving me to a familiar looking place?"

Anael hums lightly, smirking with painted lips, "No, but those are excellent suggestions. Might take them into consideration." I mentally curse myself out as she laughs, "No, there are people who seem to be closing in on your location, so we must move you."

"Okay, but why tell me this? Have you ever seen a movie? Telling people your plan does nothing but set you up for disaster. Not that I'm complaining. This plan could use a little disaster-ing. So, who's getting close? Sam? The Avengers? Some third party I don't know about? Probably some  _ evil  _ third party I don't know about." The guard groans, hitting me in the ribs harshly, muttering something along the lines of shut up.

Anael laughs again as we head towards the door, "It is none of your concern who it is because we are leaving."

"Okay, kind of digging my own grave here but-" Before I can finish there is a sharp pain in my neck and everything starts to fade to darkness.

Third Person P.O.V.- Present Day

"Finally, she's quiet. Why are we keeping her around anyway?" The male guard questions as the female angel pulls the needle out. They move towards the car that is parked on the other side of the deserted road. The entrance to Heaven is located in the next state over, meaning they needed to move quickly before she wakes up. They were going to take her up to Heaven where she cannot be tracked. They didn't know why these people were hunting her down, but they also didn't want to find out.

A whooshing sound interrupts the conversation the guards were having about Kirstin. They quickly turn to find the empty space behind them now occupied with six people. Well, five people and an Angel. Each of them was armed; three with seraph blades, one with a bow and blades, another with magic, and the last with only an Angel Blade. They were Shadowhunters, a race of half-human, half-angels born from drinking Angelic blood out of the Mortal Cup. They were created to protect humans from Demons and creatures of Demonic nature. Most humans didn't know Shadowhunters exist, except for a select few Mundanes. There are few Mundanes who have the Sight,- though if a Demon is directly after them, they can definitely see the Demons then- even fewer act on what they see. These few are called Hunters, Mundane hunters of the supernatural creatures that try to harm people. That's what Kirstin's whole family was made up of, Hunters and Shadowhunters. And an Archangel, but that's not important.

The Shadowhunters were not taking their time, skipping the 'try to just talk to them' approach and went straight to the offensive one. The warlock, Magnus Bane, was quick to put a barrier between the Angels and the car, the only way they would be able to make it out of the field fast enough. The Angel that was working with the offensive group was quick to fight one of the guards; who had just dropped their most valuable assets on the ground. Of course, as far as those guards were concerned, she was just another stupid stunt Lucifer was pulling. The other guard moves to attach and was quickly drawn into a fight with a blonde man, Jace Herondale, quickly joined by a raven-haired man, Alec Lightwood. The female guard was quick to abandon their fight, sending them flying through the air, proceeding to try to take the girl and escape. Only the barrier was blocking one exit, and all other routes were blocked by the last three people there; the woman with fiery red curls, a brunette man, and the warlock.

"You do know your blades don't hurt me, Shadowhunters. They were forged to work  _ for  _ Angelic beings, not  _ against _ . They won't harm them or me, so fighting is useless. Put down your weapons, children, we are all on the same side." The angel tries to use her angelic heritage as an influence, a blue light and a shimmering sound mix with a cry of pain are heard from behind them, though none of them look back.

"We don't need to use our weapons to hurts you. Our Angelic friend here has that covered, just like he had us covered when telling us that you all fight for Lucifer now." Clarissa Herondale speaks clearly, though the harsh words leaving her mouth are filled with venom. Four sets of footsteps are heard, before Jace, Alec, and Ithuriel join them. The guard, now completely cornered with the unconscious Nephilim propped on her glances at the group of people in front of her.

With a near perfect grace, she shoves the body off of her, watching it drop in the middle between her and the person closest to her; Simon Lovelace. "Here," the angel's blank face twitches slightly as if to attempt to portray an emotion before almost instantaneously being reigned back in, "I didn't care to have her around anyway. Lucifer is the one that wants her, but we might as well have placed an infant on the throne. Have fun trying to get her to talk, the last person had nearly made her insides fall out and the only thing she said to him was she could not wait to see him in Hell. Now if you excuse me, I have to go tell Lucifer that you got here before I did and took out the guards." They all stared at her, nothing but a blank stare back as a clue if they should kill her too. Ithuriel seems to make the decision for them, moving out of the way to let her pass.

Anael was quick to cut the guard off, stabbing a blade harshly into her chest, "No need, that's my job." She snaps as the angel falls to the ground with a solid thump. The last of the three angels tosses the angel blade to the ground, grabbing the one from the dead guard's body. "She was a true pain in the ass. I have to report to Lucifer. Don't let the Nephilim kill you, Ithuriel." With that she turns and leaves, the Angel and Shadow hunters watching her go.

Since Ithuriel was the only one equipped to defeat her, the others have no other choice but to turn to the girl. The girl who was mumbling quietly, still fast asleep on the ground. The Angel moves towards her, breaking the cuffs placed on her wrist and tossing her over his shoulder as though she weighs nothing. Jace snorts, "For a powerful being, you Angels really seem to like tossing her around like a sack of potatoes."

Ithuriel glances at him, looking unamused, "She is still partially Mortal, so most of the Angels don't care. I personally found that this is an easy way to carry people. Is it not appropriate?"

Clary laughs as Magnus begins to open the portal, "Not exactly. People usually prefer to be carried in ways that don't make blood rush to their heads, but I guess that will work. We'll lay her in the infirmary, check on Ryder while we're at it. Find out what happened."

Jace and Alec agree as Simon studies what he can see of the girl's face, "Am I the only one that thinks she looks familiar? Like we've seen her before?"

Jace moves back towards him as everyone else moves to step through the portal, "I mean, she has some of the Blackthorn looks, as to be expected. The blue-green eyes, Ty's black hair." the portal closes behind the two men. They step into the garden behind the Institute, the large gothic building towering over them.

Jace takes the girl from Ithuriel, carrying her bridal style as the group walks down the hallway. Alec inputs himself in the conversation, "She does remind me of him, her eyes remind me of Livia though. But, yeah Simon is right, maybe she did something to end up on the news or something. Maybe we saw her on a magazine while walking around the city." Alec claps Jace's shoulder before moving over to converse with his husband.

The group splits at the end of the hallway, Clary, Jace, and Ithuriel head left towards the infirmary, while Alec and Magnus head right, towards the weapons room. Simon heads straight, either to look for Izzy or to order the pizza they were talking about buying before the mission.

The first group moves swiftly through the empty halls, conversing quietly as everything else was silent around them. The Angel was walking slightly behind the married couple, watching the unconscious teenage girl's blank face, wondering how soon he would be able to contact the others and tell them that he had collected the Nephilim child.

  
  
  



	7. 6

_ Four months ago... _

_ Jack stands in the aisle, examining the items on the shelves without touching them. The aisle was mostly empty, two girls and him being the only ones there. Kirstin was in the food section, stocking up because Dean and Sam were going on a hunt soon. That recently seems to mean that they are left alone, not allowed to leave the Bunker unless it is a dire situation. Kirstin had told him to go look around and to see if there are any movies he wants to grab, sending him off with the baskets that you carry around. _

_ Instead of going to the movie isle that a worker had told him how to get to, he got sidetracked in another aisle on the way there. It was full of different brands, colorful packaging, and even more colorful products. He had seen enough of the stuff around the Bunker, stole and used enough of it too, to know it was makeup. Avery had plenty of it, spread all over the girl's bathroom, so it wasn't hard to take some without her noticing. This place had a lot more colors and shades, however. Most of Avery's were dark. _

_ The first few times he had put on the makeup, he hadn't realized it was considered a weird thing for boys to do, having watched many of them do it on Youtube, where it seemed normal for the most part. When he found out many people didn't find it normal, he decided he would just add it to the list of things he wouldn't be normal for. While he had been using the makeup for a while, he still only used eyeshadow, never trying to take more, scared Avery would notice and be upset that he took her things. _

_ Listening to the girls next to him talk about him, and pretending not to be able to hear their barely-there whispers, he examines the many types of makeup. Foundation, concealer, blush, lip gloss, lipstick, something called lip liner and much more. Not to mention all the different colors, for different skin tones, of eyeshadow, of lipstick. It seems like a never-ending pile of decisions. And then there were the weird brushes. _

_ A tap on his shoulder caught his attention he looks over to see one of the girls standing next to him. She had an amused smile on her face, for some reason, "Do you need some help? You seem kind of lost." _

_ He shakes his head, "No, I am not lost, just confused. Why is there so many different types of makeup?" _

_ She laughs, "Because people don't all have the same appearance, or prefer different looks than others. Are you trying to get some makeup for a family member?" He shakes his head again before looking at the rows of stuff, avoiding meeting her eyes. "For yourself then?" He nods slowly, his apprehension clear. "Cool, then you would want this foundation, it matches your skin tone. What type of look are you going for? Light colors or dark colors?" Jack cocks his head to the side, confused as to why she was helping him. The girl must take that as a sign of confusion about the makeup because she just giggles and tells him he has a lot to learn. _

_ By the time he had made it to the movie aisle, the basket was half full and the girl that had helped him had explained a lot to him. Kirstin was already in the aisle when he got there, looking at a set of multiple movies. When she noticed him there she showed him the movies, "Does a DC marathon sound good? 'Cause we have all of the older ones at home, these are the newest ones and there are more coming out sooner than you'd think." _

_ He looks at them before grabbing a movie called Trolls off the shelf, "Only if we can get this too." She laughs setting her movies in the cart she had, before grabbing his basket and the movies out of his hand. She raises an eyebrow at the makeup as Jack tenses, scared of her reaction. _

_ "New hobby?" When he doesn't reply she laughs, "Relax, this is not even bad, dude. Bad would be you going dark side. None of us will judge you if you want to wear makeup. That just means that Avery will have someone to test her technique on because I refuse to. Did you know she's thinking about going to beauty school? I highly doubt she will get the chance though, with hunting and all." Kirstin rambles as she adds the makeup to the cart. _

_ "So you don't think I'm weird?" He questions, feeling better. _

_ "No. In fact, I can show you how to use this stuff." He seems shocked at the prospect of Kirstin knowing how to use this makeup because, as she had just pointed out, she prefers not to wear any, leaving the 'girly stuff' to Avery, who likes to wear dresses and heels. "Oh, don't give me that look. Just because I don't wear it, doesn't mean I don't know how to use it. Like with guns, I prefer blades, but I know how to use them when necessary." _

_ He nods quickly, "Can you teach me how to use some of this stuff? And the guns and knives? I feel like I'd be more helpful knowing how to fight, and use my powers more." _

_ "Definitely. Now, come on. Dean and Sam are probably starting to freak out that we aren't home yet." With that, they head to the cash register, stopping to pick up some junk food along the way. _

Jack's P.O.V.- Present Day

I stare blankly at the mirror in front of me, debating whether or not I even want to put any makeup on, and especially if I want to go try to find Kirstin with it on. The boys didn't know I wore it, and there really didn't seem to be any leads on Kirstin. I came here, thinking that putting on the makeup would take my mind off the fact that Lucifer had my cousin but then I remembered my first time buying makeup. That just made it worse.

I stare blankly at the mirror, looking at the pictures Kirstin and Avery had jammed into the frames when they decided all of our rooms needed makeovers. Even when Dean hated me, Avery and I had gotten along. When Kirstin joined us, after Mary and I had gotten back from the Apocalypse World, she didn't even flinch at me. Of course, a week later, that made sense. Her father was my uncle, so she wouldn't be scared of me. She was like me.

"Jack!" Castiel's voice startles me. I quickly put the makeup on the counter, spinning to look at the door, to see Cas and Avery standing there. I just stare at them. Avery taps Cas' shoulder, muttering something about talking to the boys. He looks between us for a few minutes, sighing and walking off.

"Hey, J." Avery walks into the room, slamming the door harshly, though her voice was soft. She wasn't in the best of moods, especially since the boys want us to act like business as usual outside of the Bunker. They say it's to not tip off anybody else that Kirstin is gone.

I smile slightly, "That rhymes." She laughs a hollow sounding laugh, plopping in the chair next to me. She starts opening the makeup, grabbing the makeup brushes.

"Yeah guess so." She was quiet for a while, apparently deciding for both of us that she was going to do my makeup. As she finishes the routine, she starts talking again, flopping on the black comforter on my bed, "Business as usual is really hard when business as usual often involved redoing the rooms with Kirstin and you, or laughing as Kirstin draws portraits of us in hilarious poses. Or even Kirstin and I pulling pranks on you guys. I did nearly everything with her, and now I'm supposed to act like everything is fine without her. The boys left, by the way, I told Cas that we would stay here and they would go. They are going and talking to an Angel, one that doesn't agree with Lucifer or something. Andi and Mason went to the store. Nat's somewhere around here, probably training."

I look in the mirror for a second, before standing up and moving to crawl onto my bed sprawling out next to her, "Well, Kirstin is going to come back. I mean, it's Kirstin. She'd probably crack jokes and poke fun the whole time, then haul tail out of there the first chance she got. And business as usual is only required outside of the Bunker. This is where Demons can't see us, and the only Angel we have to worry about is Castiel." She smiles slightly.

"And Cassie is nothin' but a cinnamon roll. Well, to us. To others, he's a tiger. Cool to be near, just don't piss 'em off."

"He is not a breakfast food, Avery. Or a tiger. He is my father."

"Well, adoptive father. And probably my soon-to-be stepfather, if the hickies on my dad's neck and Cas wearing his clothes are anything to go by." I laugh quietly as the door opens again. We look over to see Natasha leaning in the doorway, her expression as unreadable as it always is. Natasha Romanov was Sam's girlfriend, has been traveling around with us for as long as I've been alive, maybe longer. Definitely longer, I just turned a year old last month.

"I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to say keep the door open, but I'm not too concerned about it. You both are faithful people, you wouldn't cheat, but rules are rules." I laugh as she rolls her eyes at what she was saying.

"Aren't you the one that says it's better to break the rules than follow them?" Avery questions as Nat pulls a chair over to the end of the bed.

"Actually, I said to not follow the bad rules because they usually get you into bad situations. I just don't follow rules at all. 'Monkey does as a monkey's told, not as the monkey sees.'"

"Which is basically Nat's way of saying not to follow her example, Jack. Just to make sure her metaphor isn't lost on you, or anything." I smile at her defining what she meant.

"I know. I listen when you teach me this stuff. Like when Dean says gank he means to kill, and the difference between metaphors and similes."

Avery sits up, pulling her blonde hair into a ponytail, laughing as she does so, "Yep, Avery the English teacher... Kirstin the science teacher... God, I miss her so-" Her sentence was cut off by Natasha's phone ringing. She checks the caller ID before quickly moving out of the room. I glance over at Avery, hoping to portray my confusion on my face. I felt a slight tingle in the back of my mind, my feel for Kirstin's energy seems to connect to something. Kirstin and I both have a specific energy that, if our guard is down can easily be tracked. I had been searching since Dean had gotten the voicemail from Kirstin.

I stand up spinning to face Avery in pure excitement as I pinpoint where my cousin is at, "Avery! Avery, I know where-"

Natasha's calm voice interrupts my excited one, "Pack your bags, we're meeting Sam, Dean, and Cas in New York."

"What? Why?" Avery all but jumps off of my bed, hope clear on her face.

"Well, it seems their Angelic informant came through. Actually gave them exactly what their looking for. He-"

I smile at the other teenager in the room, finishing Natasha's sentence for her, "He knows where Kirstin is. And so do I. And I can get us there faster, just need to get your bags."


	8. 7

_Junior Year_

_"I can't believe you and Mason are closer than him and Andi. Like how is that even possible? They've known each other since they were five! And how can you like him better than me? I knew you first!" Ryder talks as the group of seven walks briskly down the street, Ryder taking the lead, Mason, and Kirstin right behind him. Andi and Avery were behind them, flirting with each other, though they were both oblivious as ever. Maya and Riley were bringing up the rear and only walking with them for about two more blocks before Maya walks Riley and herself home._

_"Well, Andi and I are really close, just in a different way. In a way that... basically, it's like being friends with your ex. We're close, impressively close, but we need a buffer or two. We are... too much alike. Putting us together as a duo and not expecting a fight is like lighting dynamite and expecting it not to explode. Kirstin is our buffer. Besides, you didn't even know her name until you met Avery. Which was like, a month after she met me. So suck it." Mason answers the question as the two girls in the back leave the traveling posse. His shaggy chocolate colored hair in his face as he looked around, confused as to where Kirstin was directing them. Ryder was walking backward so he definitely wasn't leading them._

_"Yeah, Strawberry. Suck it." Kirstin jokes, turning to head in the opposite way of the Mason and Andi's apartments. Mason grabs her shoulder pulling her to a stop._

_"Kirstin, where are you going? The apartments are this way. If we leave now we can get to Andi's before Maya gets home so we can lock her out. Have her spend some time at the Matthews."_

_"Well, I thought you could come over to Avery and I's house today. Happy is just down the street over here, he picks us up at Topanga's. Something about keeping face." Kirstin smiles and continues down the road, not bothering to see if they were following her. Of course, they were, but you couldn't really blame them. There were very few times where they saw Kirstin smile, even fewer times where she talks about her home life. Especially where she lives. And they were curious teenagers._

_So when she stops in front of a limousine, you could say the trio's interest was peaked. Though sky-rocketing was a much better example, "A limo? Who the hell do you live with girls?" Ryder looks at them wide-eyed._

_"Tony Stark." Avery and Kirstin speak in sync before the blonde turns back and adds, "He's our uncle."_

Ryder's P.O.V.- Present Day

I hear a voice float through the room as my eyes open, harsh lights making them snap shut again. I try again, this time everything seems to align a little, my eyes seem to focus and I can hear clearly. I look next to me to see Kirstin and my uncle Magnus in a seemingly heated conversation. Wait... Kirstin shouldn't be in the Institute.

"I know you know of me, Kirstin. Your life revolves around the Downworld. You know the difference between the good, the bad, and the ones who mess up. Tell me, which one do you think we are?" I slowly sit up, watching as Kirstin's defensive stance falters slightly as her eyes flicker to me.

"I know that you're a warlock, your name is Magnus Bane. And I know that people will say anything to take their asses out of the line fire. And even if you are the good guys, you still kidnapped me." I stand up and move to walk towards the duo. Snorting as Kirstin gives me a questioning look.

"If by kidnapping you mean saving you from Lucifer's people, then yes, we kidnapped you." My father's voice rings from behind me, Ithuriel and him standing in the doorway. Kirstin instantly moves forward attempting to maneuver around me. I quickly grab her waist and yank her backward, before she could get close to them. She begins fighting against my hold around her waist.

"Okay, so now why don't you tell me the truth, you idiotic Shadowhunters. Or I guess I should ask your Angel, huh? Why did you tell them Angels are still loyal to Lucifer? I've spoken to Cas, so one of the two are lying and I'm nearly positive it's you." **Truth. She's telling the truth.** A voice in the back of my head mutters quietly.

"She's telling the truth," I add, causing everybody's gazes to seamlessly shift from their current position on Ithuriel to me.

"You can't know that for sure, Ryder. I get that she's your friend, but-" Magnus moves towards us as he speaks, but becomes stock still as Ithuriel interrupts him.

"She is right. Well, mostly. There are nine Angels left in Heaven that are still loyal to our cause. There is a small group, so far we have counted seven, that are loyal to Lucifer. That includes the two I killed in the process of getting you. Yes, Castiel was informed of the nine Angels left, but we- Anael and I- we are the only two who can leave Heaven, Castiel, Lucifer, and Lucifer's loyalists excluded."

"Then why lie? What does it matter if they think you are stopping Lucifer or working to help Angels? They would have helped you either way." Kirstin stops fighting against my hold around her waist, speaking calmly, as if we were discussing the weather.

"I am trying to stop Lucifer, just not as alone as previously believed. We need to stop him before he gets too powerful. And I figured they would be more inclined to help me if they believed I was by myself, as I nearly am on my own, it is not a complete lie. Anael is keeping surveillance on Lucifer and keeping me informed, so the field work is all dependant on me. Now on all of us." **Truth. He's telling the truth.** How do I even know though, he could be lying, why am I assuming he's telling the truth. But... that voice was right with Kirstin, wasn't it?

"I... I think he's telling the truth." I mutter quietly, my voice seeming impossibly loud in the quiet room.

"Okay. Come with us, we'll tell you everything you need to know about this... and yourself. And, unlike him, we'll tell you everything you need to, and want to, know." Magnus lightly pulls Kirstin out of my grip, moving toward the door, my dad and I quickly follow.


	9. 8

_ Summer Before Freshman Year- _

_ "Where are we even going? The last time we were in New York, a Demon tried to kill you guys." Avery complains, leaning toward the front seat, not saving Kirstin any room to talk to the brothers. Not that Kirstin was complaining. She had already figured out what was happening, it wasn't too hard. School was starting within a month, Avery wanted to spend the last three years of her high school career at one high school, and Kirstin needed a school to keep her big brain active, especially since she was in Sophmore classes this next year. They also needed to stay in one spot to do that, while being supervised because if Avery and Kirstin were left unattended, they probably would forget to eat too often; Avery wrapped up in her books, Kirstin wrapped up in whatever she was building this week. So the list went, stability, good educations, supervision, and with someone all of them can trust. All of those things could be found in New York, with none other than Tony Stark. Well, ninety percent of those things are located in New York; not everybody is too sure about his stability in multiple aspects of his life. _

_ Avery, more focused on her writing, her work towards doing something with her life besides just hunting, and her books, didn't put these factors together. She was more about escaping reality, while her cousin was about figuring out everything she possibly can about the reality she lives in. This often caused her to be blind to things her cousin calls simple. Most people believe that it is due to the fact that she's stupid, though this assumption is completely untrue and solely based on the way she dressed and her giggly personality. You almost always find her in some form of 'fashionable' outfits and always, always, in heels. Throwing some awesome hair-dos and amazing makeup feats in there, too. At least out in public. On trips like these, where her prim and proper outfits were being traded out for her Dad's old bleach-stained AC/DC shirts- the ones that Kirstin didn't take, due to the aforementioned bleach stains- a pair of old ratty jeans that also probably belonged to many people before her. This was the only time she would wear hand-me-downs and things from thrift stores; she always made Sam and Dean go to real stores for her and Kirstin's clothes, though Kirstin couldn't care less. The boys, however, were more than happy to spoil their girls. Though Dean was Avery's dad, he refused to show favoritism between the two girls, raising them as siblings and trying hard to act as Kirstin's surrogate father, Sam doing the same. _

_ "That's not true; last time we were in New York, we were meeting your Uncle Tony at some weird shawarma place." Dean makes the comment cheekily, earning a shove from Avery. _

_ "Not the point." She grumbles quietly, leaning back as Kirstin pushes her over slightly. _

_ "What the fuck is shawarma? I've heard the phrase so much, hell I’ve even eaten some, but I have no idea what it is." As Dean tells her to watch her language she spins to her cousin, poking her, "And, you know, if you would keep your head out of your books and journals you'd know. They're taking us to stay with Tony, so we can go to school in peace and take long naps on yachts, or whatever rich people do." _

_ Avery easily slips an arm around Kirstin, "I can see it now, Darling. Champagne on ice, the finest jewelry-" her joking tone was full of a posh British accent, as though being rich automatically makes you British. _

_ "Blowing stuff up with Tony in the lab-" Kirstin interrupts, her actual hopes peeking through. _

_ "-all of the books you could imagine, no stealing involved-" Avery is quick to join her in fantasizing. _

_ "-separate rooms-" _

_ "-hopefully separate bathrooms-" _

_ "-no missing school for hunts-" _

_ "-but no Sam and Dean." Avery finishes quietly, looking sad. Kirstin's face is quick to drop as she adds a quiet 'or Cassie'. The car soon falls into silence as the girls split up, moving to look out the windows, silence enveloping the car in a fellow swoop. _

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Present Day

Quietly looking around the room I was left in, wearing nothing but a towel tightly wrapped and tucked in so it didn't fall, my wet hair sticking to my face. I had been sent to this room, told what bath stuff to use inside of the connected bathroom and left to wait in here when finished. It was clear that there were multiple people living in the room unless the person living here wore clothes from both genders and completely different sizes. Though, I guess the first part wasn't really a clue, more of a suggestion, because it is 2018 and people can wear whatever they want. The sizes, however, are a very big giveaway. There was a partition cornering a little space, probably for changing.

I move to look through the drawers in the desk, finding a weird wand looking thing in one of them.  _ What is this, Harry Potter? _ "You know, if you were that curious, you could've asked Magnus to stay." A girl's voice calls from behind me. I turn around, closing the drawer, but keeping the wand-thing in my hand. Pretending to examine the thing, I watch the girl as she moves to the closet, her brown eyes examining a pair of jeans. She was wearing a dress, one obviously tight... and short, showing her tattooed skin. Or Runed skin, I guess technically. However that works.

"Yeah, well, I prefer to be alone when I think, especially when I'm only wearing a towel." I joke, watching as she pulls the jeans and a rather revealing shirt out of her closet.

"So, here, these look about the right size, but it's hard to tell with such baggy clothes on you now. Also, I'm not too sure if this shirt will fit you, I can't wear it so maybe it will fit you. Our chests seem about the same size, but again, hard to tell with such loose clothes on." I look at the clothes she hands me examining the shirt before handing it back and quietly moving towards the closet. Before I open it I turn and glance at her questioningly. At her shrug, I pull out one of the dark black guy's shirts hidden in the corner. It seemed like it would be tight fitting for a guy who would wear it but would be loose on me, "God, I forgot that was in there. I took that hostage from Ryder after he went through what I prefer to call his Alec phase. It's been in there for three years. I wonder if he'll even realize you're wearing it." She gives me the rest of the clothes she pulled from her drawer to change into.

"That's when he wore nothing but black for two weeks straight, right?" At her nod I laughed slightly, setting the wand down and moving behind the divider to change, "Yeah, that was a bet. He was always wearing colorful shirts, so I dared him to go two weeks without wearing any color. Which he apparently didn't realize that meant he could also wear gray and white also."

"Well, white is for mourning in our tradition, meaning we avoid it for any other occasions. And that thing you were pretending to examine? That's called a stele, something we use to make our Runes. Those are-"

I step out from behind the divider fully changed, "Your tattoos. They give you your Demon-fighting powers. I knew that, though I didn't know what a stele was. I know a little bit about Shadowhunters, but not a whole lot. What's your name, by the way?"

She smiles, handing me a brush and a hair tie, "My name is Isabelle. You can call me Izzy."

I smile as I grab the brush from her, "My name's-"

"Kirstin Mackenzie Blackthorn. Or do you go by Kirstin Mackenzie Winchester? Maybe Stark?"

I run the brush through my slightly damp hair, mentally cursing at myself everytime the hairbrush running through my slightly curled hair hit a knot, "Actually I go by Black, but that was a nice way to show you know who I am. And that you read tabloids."

Izzy laughs as I begin to pull my hair back, "I'm pretty sure I'm the only one. Everyone else had no idea who you were, except Ryder. How could I not read about Tony Stark secretly being adopted and having nieces? I mean it's so fun reading Mundane gossip."

"Because they think stuff like this is the weirdest thing being kept a secret. Not like there is a whole other world inside their own or anything..." I trail off as I hand her back the brush and adjust the baggy shirt, tucking the front slightly into the top of the jeans so it doesn't look so big. Considering the thing went down to the middle of my thigh, I would say that is close to impossible.

"Come on, the others are all buzzing to formally meet you. And Ryder seems to be excited. Probably for a different reason though." I nod along as we move towards the door, exiting into a hallway that looks the same as every other hallway in this place.

After a while of walking, and a lot of the same looking hallways and turns, we end up in a library. An old-fashioned library that is jam-packed with books and had computers set up on one side, obviously new installments due to the Stark logos on them. As Izzy moves to the group of people off on the other side of the room I move to investigate the computers.

They were made at least three years ago, could probably use a few upgrades. If I hang around long enough, I wonder if they'll let me reroute it, and the internet, to make it work better. And maybe link their search engines to Men of Letters servers, which is the new S.H.I.E.L.D. Would make looking for people a lot easier, especially well-hidden people.

"You know, you've been in here for maybe a total of five minutes already, and haven't made a rude comment. It's nearly impressive if it wasn't for the fact that you are already thinking about messing with our tech." Ryder's voice comes from behind me as I continue to examine the computer.

"You are a very unkind child, Ryder. I am merely thinking of ways to improve your searching capabilities. And using an arc reactor to have your computer running on clean energy because the outlets these are plugged into are ancient. Also, I can redo the wiring to make this Gen two run like the new Gen fives. It's really easy, takes up less space and- why are you laughing at me, Asshole!" I spin around and hit his arm harshly as he laughs.

"Did you know it's against our laws to own computers? You are actively helping us break the law, girly." He grabs my hand and pulls me toward the table that the group is gathering around.

I snort, "Well, my family is really good at that, did you know? Of course, you wouldn't know how to do that because you wouldn't even take a taffy from the store. They weigh it by the pound, it wouldn't truly cost anything for one freakin piece."

"Me not taking it had nothing to do with that, I just didn't want taffy. Anyway, you need to actually try to listen when these people speak, because they have important... stuff, to say to you." I move to sit down at the same time as a guy quickly walks past us and out the door. The rest of the group doesn't seem to bat an eye at me sitting down with them, or their friend leaving.

"Okay, people whose names I don't know, in a place I've never been before, tell me whatever Ryder skeptically told me is important."

"Well, I'm Jace, that is Simon, that is-" The blond man, Jace points to a guy with brown hair and matching brown-eyes, before moving to point at Isabelle.

"Isabelle. And that's Magnus Bane. And that is Ithuriel the angel. I don't care who you are, I care why I'm here. What do you guys want? Can I leave?"

"We want you to know the truth about who your parents a-" Magnus begins, moving to stand next to me on the left, Ryder having plopped down into the chair on my right.

"Amelia Blackthorn and Michael the Archangel. Amelia was the daughter of a Hunter and a Shadowhunter, probably had some half-siblings, judging by the fact that I've met Ty Blackthorn a few months ago. I also know that you guys think you are superior to humans, so I don't want anything to do with you. Or my Shadowhunter relatives. I have enough familial problems, I don't need anymore, goodbye." I move to stand up but Ryder catches my wrist, dragging me back down into the seat. His grip was tighter than a humans should be. What the hell, it actually kind of hurt?

"Okay, you know about Shadowhunters, which means you know that you're existence needs to be reported to the Clave. We have a lot of pull there and if things go south, like I have ingeniously predicted will happen, we can probably stop something bad from happening... " I roll my eyes as Jace continues speaking, giving a flat look to Ryder, who end up snickering and loosening his grip on my wrist. The door opens harshly as the guy from earlier quickly moves through the room, looking pissed.

"Jace, we have a problem." He barely has time to finish speaking as the door opens again, this time four familiar figures coming through, lead by shorter a red-headed female. Tony Stark was quick to move towards me, all but pulling me behind him.

"I don't know who the hell you are, or how the hell you found her, and thank you, but she is no longer in your care. If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with my special guest star. Natasha care to speak up." As soon as he finishes speaking, I'm being yanked toward the door, nearly running trying to keep up with his pace. I catch the end of the conversation in there as we turn the corner turn the corner.

"Hey wait you can't just-" Isabelle's voice was cut off by Avery's.

"He can; he's her legal guardian and keeping her would be considered kidnapping. Your base may be invisible, and your Runes can glamor you, but you can't be invisible all the time. Try to stop us and the two-month absence my cousin unwillingly took will be pinned on you and you couldn't show your face anywhere without being arrested on the spot,” her voice fades out as three sets of footsteps follow us.

_ # _

Ryder's P.O.V.

I sit down in the kitchen of the Avengers tower, or whatever they're calling it now, watching as Kirstin makes a sandwich. After they left, and I talked my family down from going after them, I came here. It was easy to get past security, not so easy to get past the AI and the conversing group in the hallway that leads to the elevators. Especially considering that the group consists of an ex-spy, three renowned hunters, a Nephilim, and Ironman himself. In the end, I got stuck taking the stairs, which definitely took a while.

"You know, sitting there watching me is the creepiest thing you've ever done," Kirstin mutters as she sticks the ingredients she uses back in the fridge. She was still wearing my shirt, the one Aunt Izzy stole from me. I don't exactly understand why I like the fact that she's wearing it as much as I do, or why I'm proud that she still is wearing it.

"I don't know, I thought the creepiest thing I've ever done was help my family in taking you. Although, they did kind of save you. Then tried to hand you off the Clave, which probably completely defeats the purpose of saving you." I lean back in my chair, keeping my tone flat and my face and eye free of any emotion. I've learned to do that since I was a kid; I even named it my ‘Shadowhunting Face’.

"Not creepy. Just infuriating. I know that you were just helping your family, I would do the same exact thing in a heartbeat." Pushing her long black hair away from her face, she keeps her back to me.

"Then why is it so infuriating, if you'd make the same call?" My voice rises slightly, breaking the facade I created.

"Because you shouldn't be like me! You have always been better, always been kind-hearted, happy, and free of any damned monsters." Kirstin yells at me, spinning around slamming her hands down on the counter in front of her, food forgotten. Her necklace catches the light, shining brightly, drawing my attention to it, and the other one next to it. She wasn't wearing them at the Institute, but she almost never takes them off.

"What does that even mean? From what I can tell, your nothing like your family. You don't drink, you aren't a liar, you don't constantly depend on them, and you don't purposely run towards danger. You get so excited when we talk about Jack, science, drawing. You would jump in front of a train before letting people get hurt. You and I don't seem so different." I watch as she moves from the counter to the table.

"We are. We are really different, Ryder. You wouldn't hurt anybody if you could help it, not even with words. I have a knack for hurting people, using words, weapons, anything to tear them down. That's why you making this call is so infuriating, I would make the same call to save my family, throw innocent people to the wolves to bring them home safe. That's what you were doing, throwing me to the Clave to save your own asses, right? Because that mission wasn't Clave sanctioned? Either that, or there's something you're not telling me." I sigh, leaning forward, putting my elbows on the table.

"It was Clave sanctioned. The Clave wants you under their control, of course they do, you're powerful. We don't care about that; we want to help you use your powers, yes, and we do want to keep a close eye on you, but we would have to tell the Clave you exist. That's what my dad was warning you about, in his own weird way. We-" Kirstin holds up her finger, getting up and grabbing her sandwich, before sitting right next to me.

"I believe you. So now, tell me about Shadowhunters. You talk and I'll let you know when I think I know something." I nod slowly, considering it.

"Alright, sounds fair. Only if you tell me more about Hunters."

"Deal. You first."

"Well, Shadowhunters are..."


	10. 9

_ May 30, 1970 _

_ The hospital room was quiet, the day old baby lay sleeping quietly in his new mother's arms. Or soon to be mother's arms, depending on if the young woman had signed the papers yet or not. Maria had really hoped she would, not even due to her selfish need for children, but because the woman's boyfriend had just been shipped out for war. The poor girl was barely nineteen and already had a son. _

_ The idea of taking this little baby home was exciting, of course it was; she had been wanting kids for four years. After trying for two years they had found out that Howard was unable to produce children. The next to years were spent hoping someone would pick their file and they'd get to bring home a baby. _

_ This woman, young girl really, had seemed saddened to give her son up, so Maria had tried to let her know that it wouldn't offend them if she wanted to keep him. As much as she wanted children, she could never tear an unwilling mother away from her baby. _

_ "Can I..." Mary, the young girl, raises her quiet voice loud enough to catch Maria's attention, "Can I hold him one last time?" _

_ Maria smiles quietly, handing the baby to the blonde girl, who stares at her child in awe and sadness, "Of course Sweetheart. You can still change your mind, not sign the papers." _

_ "No. I already signed the papers. He needs a good life and I can't give him that. His father might not even... It's better this way. He'll have two parents that love him and can take care of him like he needs. What are you guys going to name him?" _

_ "Anthony. Anthony Edward." Howard speaks from next to her, her eyes watering as she hands the baby back to its legal mother. _

_ "Anthony Edward Stark... What a beautiful name for a beautiful baby boy." _

Jack's P.O.V.-Present Day

"So Ryder is one of these... Shadow hurters?" I ask, leaning against the doorway of the kitchen at Avengers tower. Kirstin and Avery were sitting on the counters, eating chips, often switching the bags between them.

"Shadowhunters, Jack. Yep, his parents are the blonde guy, Jace, and the redhead, he said her name was Clary. The dark haired guy, Alec, and Magnus Bane are his uncles, so are the brown haired guy, and the black haired girl. Simon and Isabelle Lovelace. They want me to join them or something. Ithuriel, the Angel, was talking about stopping Lucifer and his disciples. Jace was talking about telling the Clave I exist, meaning that what they need from me probably has something to do with this Clave."

“Oh.” Was the only reply Kirstin got.

#

I watch from the elevator as Kirstin fiddles with two weird bracelet-like items, carrying three cold sodas with me. Her necklaces dangle in front of her as she hunches over the desk, talking to FRIDAY. “Can you pull up the schematics FRI? Open it up, I want to see the inside. Something is making them lodge, not letting ‘em re-coil in the secondary form, and we need to know what.” A gray-blue image of weird shapes appear in the air in front of the desk, a picture next to the one she’s focusing on is in front of her resembles the thick piece of metal in her hand.  _ Must be making a new weapon. Or maybe a watch. _

Either of these options where possible, she was working with Tony to make new products for his company and she was working to make new super secret Iron Man weapons. The weapons themselves weren’t a secret, they’ll tell us anything we could want to know about how they work. They won’t,  _ however,  _ tell us why they are making so many new weapons. Hence the  _ super-secret  _ part of the  _ super secret Iron Man weapons. _

Nearly every time he came down here this early since he started staying here, (a year and a half ago. Sam and Dean figured Tony would be a better teacher to catch me up on everything I need to know about the world I’ve been living in for the past two years and sent me here) they’d both be down here right now, working on some sort of project, Kirstin’s usually a weapon, Tony usually the new kid he was working with; Spider-Man. The streak seemed to be broken today, though, because Kirstin was down here by herself, talking to the invisible robot. Stepping out of the elevator quickly, the doors shutting smoothly behind me, I move over to the desk, setting the sodas down and examining the picture. “The piece of metal seems to be stopping it from coming back in.”

She nods, sending the pictures to one side, pressing a hidden button on the bracelet. It expands, revealing a sleek blue arm gauntlet with a large gap between the part that sits on the wrist and where the width of the gauntlet ends. It continues to build, a blue metal glove building from the gauntlet. “I figured. I just need to remove it. Then it’s back to the testing stage. At this rate, it could be done within a day. Three tops.” She runs a finger down the seam of the suit, pressing harder at the end. A beep comes from the device and it pops open with ease. She repeats the process with the other one, which looks nearly identical to the first, except it was clearly for the other hand.

I look around the room while she works, seeing if I could spot Tony anywhere in the rooms leading off of this one. “A blue one? I thought Tony prefers red or gold? And Rhodes uses silver?”

“Tony uses red  _ and  _ gold, not one or the other. War Machine is silver and is staying silver, that’s true. And everything else it none of your business. I mean, I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you, Jack Attack. He’s not here, by the way. Pepper was tired of his moping over his boyfriend leaving and made him go on a run with her.”  _ His boyfriend  _ was referring to Steve Rogers, Captain America; the ex-War Criminal. Considering it had been two years since the team break-up that the girls (Kirstin, Avery, and Andi) have dubbed ‘The Civil War’, I doubt that was the actual reason he was ‘moping’ but decided against further questioning. As much as Kirstin poked fun at the subject, she hated having any actual conversations about it and had even refused to call Steve anything except ‘the ex-boyfriend’ for a whole year after it happened.

Glancing at her again, I find her with the bracelet again, drinking one of the three sodas I had set down, “Do I ever get to know? Or is this for the government?” That earns a snort from my cousin, a slight scoff following quickly after.

“Please. The last time I dealt with the government, it was to use the Men of Letters as a newly legalized as a government agency to stop the Accords from becoming a thing. Thank you, Bobby, Fury, Coulson, and Hill, for stopping us from being under the government's thumb, by putting yourself under the government’s thumb, and becoming our handlers. Telling Ross to go fuck himself was the highlight of my year. Too bad the rest still think they’re criminals, Sam would have loved to see that. Banner probably would have too, but he’s still missing, so that’s unfortunate. Come on. I need to go test it, and I don’t trust your two-year-old self in your twenty-year-old body down here with weapons capable of mass destruction. Even if said weapons are being used for mass heroics.” Kirstin grabs my arm, pulling me into the elevator with one hand, the other holding. I quickly snag the other sodas on the way out, earning a full out laugh from my cousin.

“What? Warm soda tastes gross, and I’m thirsty.” Cue the eye-roll. Reaching around me, she presses a button, pausing for a second, a thoughtful look on her face.

“FRIDAY, where’s Rhodey?” Kirstin questions, tilting her head toward the ceiling.

“He is in a meeting, Ma’am”

“With who? I thought our schedule was clear from the next month?”

“It is, Ma’am. Colonel Rhodes is in a meeting with Dr. Banner and your friend, Mr. Herondale at the moment. Though it appears that Mr. Herondale didn’t realize what he was walking in on when he lead Dr. Banner to Colonel Rhodes. Would you like me to take you to them?” Her eyes seem to double in size as they widen, shock evident on her face.

“Yes! Yes, definitely! She slides the bracelets onto her wrist, momentarily forgotten.

“This sounds like fun.” I joke quietly, clutching the now-warm sodas in my hands.

#

‘Fun’ turns out to be code for what Kirstin refers to as ‘controlled chaos’. The old Avengers showed up by the time we got down there, an injured Vision leaning against Wanda Maximoff and Sam Wilson, a bearded Steve Rogers leading the group, and Nat standing next to him with her new dyed-blonde hair, the Winchester brothers, and Cas. What followed was about twenty minutes of explaining what had happened to each group; the larger group was attacked by two aliens who called themselves Thanos’ children. They had tried to take the stone out of Vision’s head, but Wanda, Steve, and Sam stopped them. Nat had just finished a hunt with the Winchester brothers when Steve had called her on her burner phone; they had picked her up just outside of the Bunker, the Hunters and Angel deciding they needed all the help they could get. Bruce had a very short story, considering how long he’d been gone. Essentially, Thor, Loki, and him- plus the whole civilization of Asgard- went against Thanos and lost. Thanos has three stones that they call Infinity Stones. If he gets the other three, he can destroy half the universe.

One of the three stones he needs happens to be the one currently implanted in Vision’s head. Steve decided that we’re going to Wakanda, to get help there. Kirstin opted for the Helicarrier Tony had borrowed (read: took) from the once useful S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of the Quinjet they came in, mainly for the cloaking abilities. Ryder, Mason, Andi, and Avery joined us on the trip, much to Rhodes dislike. So did a crap ton of ‘toys’ Kirstin grabbed from the lab, which is a scary thought. Dean had to be knocked unconscious just to be brought on the plane, which was very easy to accomplish given what Kirstin and I are capable of.

“It’s another three hours for the ride, so we better get comfortable.” Wilson jokes, sitting on the desk Kirstin was working at. She had spent a little while in the training area downstairs with the gauntlets and seemed very happy with them now, but still seems to be tweaking them.

“Get your ass off my desk or I’ll shove my sword so far up it I could cut out your voice box.” Sam leans farther back onto the desk, the threat having the opposite effect on him.

“That’s cute. Immature, but cute. I missed your threats, Kirstin.” The black haired teenager stares down at the bracelet she was wearing, a smirk appearing on her face. The gauntlet opens without a button being pressed and, with a flick of her wrist, a whip snaps out, wrapping around his wrist. She moves her arm quickly, causing him to jerk off of the desk, hitting the ground with a thump.

Ryder snorts, holding up his hand for a high five at the same time I do. She flicks her wrist again, and almost like magic, the whip retreats back into the space in the gantlet, which quickly closed back into a bracelet. She high fives us at the same time, Sam climbing up from the ground behind her. When our hands connect, a white blast shoots out around us, knocking everything over and bursting the lightbulbs in the room. It felt as though the helicarrier stalled for a moment, a falling feeling that was over as quick as it began.

Kirstin quickly pulls her hands away, staring at her bare palm. I do the same, a tingling feeling rushing through me. Ryder shoots us an incredulous look. “The fuck was that?”


	11. 10

Kirstin's P.O.V.- One Day Ago

“Avery, hey. Wait a minute.” I grab Avery’s arm, stopping her from following Steve and the other’s out onto the balcony.

“You gonna tell me that I should stay inside with Andi and Shuri? Because I swear to god, I will bitch slap you into next week for even thinking that I can’t handle my-” I laugh, cutting off the blonde’s rant.

“No, no, nothing like that. I know you can hold your own without any weapons. But I’m gonna give you part of something Tony and I were working on.” I hold up a finger, pulling out the gauntlets I built for the new suit design out of its case. I hold them out to her waiting until she puts them on before speaking again, “I remember how much you loved the silver-tipped whip Dean got you for your birthday. I also remember how good you were with it and how sad you were when you found out it got destroyed at Bobby’s house. So… this is a nano-tech gauntlet that has retractable whips instead of repulsor blasters, though those can be added later. Do you remember Ivan Vanko?”

Avery pauses for a second, thinking, “The one who tried to kill everyone at the Stark Expo and attacked Tony at a race?”

“Yes, that guy.” I nod quickly, deciding to talk and prep at the same time. I was already in my black-and-white suit, with my black and white studded combat boots. I forgo the mask, everybody already knows who I am anyway, so it’s kinda pointless, and pull on my utility belt sliding the weapons in easily. “Well, I took notes from him. The suit he made, that is. It can become electrified like his. I used the nano-tech, vibranium that Tony made, and a few other tricks up my sleeve to essentially let you have total control over your weapons with a single thought. One thought and it becomes an electrified vibranium whip that could slice through virtually anything, into a regular vibranium whip that can do anything normal whips are capable of, to a simple gauntlet, or even a clunky metal bracelet. There are also buttons on them, in case you have trouble with the whole thought thing. Don’t worry, it’s programmed to only react to our fingerprints. And Tony’s, but that’s for another time.” I finish fiddling with my belt, smiling at my cousin, who is still watching the bracelets she’s holding.

She stares down at the blue bracelets for a moment longer, sliding them on slowly. As quick as ever, they turn into the dark blue gauntlets I spent weeks perfecting in the lab. In a second, she flicks her wrist, the whip wrapping around my wrist and pulling taut, almost hauling me towards her. A second after, and another flick of her wrist, it unwinds and disappears into the gauntlet again, “You made these specifically for me? I mean, not to sound ungrateful, because I’m already in love with them, but why?”

I glance toward the balcony, checking to see if everybody was there yet so we can do a quick debriefing of our plan. Nope. “Well, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but all things considered, that’s probably the least of my worries today. So… we all know as much as Tony loves to act the part, he’s not immortal, or invincible, yeah?”

“Yeah, he really is a Winchester.” She jokes, pushing my shoulder in that annoying older-sibling kind of way. I laugh slightly.

“Well, he figured that we’d each get fifty percent of his shares in the company, meaning that we will always have to work together. You know, he has everything set up in case he… passes. Except for one thing. Someone to pass down the mantle on Iron Man to. I mean, Peter and I have got our own things, and every other person he’d consider for the job also has their own thing, or are right up there in age with him. No, he didn’t give me any of that reasoning when he told me, I made it up myself to make me feel better about his choice.” I joke lightly, moving to place my weapons in the belt, out of the way, “Anyway, he wants to have a new… replacement. Someone who knows what the hell they’re doing, but can also have a fresh set of eyes. We didn’t want to tell you until the suit was done, but too late now. He wants you to become Iron Man. Well, Iron Maiden. Yes, we did that on purpose.” Avery takes a step back, smiling in her combat gear as though someone just told her she won the lottery.

“Really? That’s amazing! Wait, you’re okay with this? I mean, I know the superhero business is kinda your domain and I don’t want to overstep or-” She continues to ramble for a moment, looking honestly concerned about the topic.

Grabbing her shoulders I widen my eyes slightly, “Jeez, Ava. Breathe. If I wasn’t okay with this, I wouldn’t be helping build your suit. In fact, you should be thanking me, he was gonna do silver and a weird pink-red color. I talked him into blue and rose-gold instead.”

She pulls me into a hug, squeezing me as I go stiff. I move my arms awkwardly around her, patting her shoulder slightly. She pulls away, resting her hands on my shoulders this time, “We’re going to go out there, kick alien ass, stop Thanos, and get our uncle back, okay?”

I nod slowly, “Let’s go get ‘em, Iron Maiden.”

“I would say it back, but some selfish black haired girl can’t decide on a name.” We move to join the group, though a few stragglers were still missing.

“You will rue the day you called me selfish, Cousin.”

“I doubt that.”

#

“We should tell them about what happened on the plane,” Jack whispers, pulling Ryder over to our mini huddle, with our plan now set up, it was a matter of getting everybody prepared for the fight, and getting the stone out of Vision’s head.

“I don’t think now is a good time, Jack. I mean, we aren’t even sure of what happened.” Ryder mutters harshly, “Or why.”

“It felt like a rush of-of power. What if it could help the fight?” The blonde boy shoots back, equal parts annoyed and concerned.

“What if it was just because of the gauntlet? Then they would be relying on us and we’d let them down.” Ryder shoots back, running a hand through his strawberry blonde hair. I pause for a second, looking around. Most of the group was inside helping with Vision, but that wasn’t going to last long.

“How about we try it again now and see if anything happens? If it doesn’t, so be it. If it does, we keep it to ourselves, use it to our advantage when the time is right. Like stopping Thanos.” I offer, glancing toward the building one more time.

The two boys nod, each of them placing a hand in the center of the huddle, almost like a ‘go team’ gesture. I carefully place my hand on top, body tensing as I wait for something to happen. When nothing does, I send a pointed look their way. “And that’s settled.”

I move to pull away, when Jack and Ryder, in perfect unison yelp out, “Wait.”

“One more try? Like where we actually try to do it?” Ryder offers, gold eyes pleading. I look at Jack, to find the boy going full-on puppy dog eyes at me. I groan, stomping once before setting my hand on top of theirs, this time willing something to happen. A surge of power like what happened on the plane shoots through me, stronger this time. My eyes are instantly drawn to our hands. A white glow is emitted from the pile of hands, as images fill my mind, I let my other hand raise up, to find the normal gold glow of when I use certain abilities replaced with the same white glow as around our group of hands.

“Woah,” Ryder exclaims softly, staring at his own hand. The power continues to build, could almost be considered overpowering if it didn’t seem to fluctuate around us.

“I know,” Jack adds, voice full of awe and amazement.

“It almost feels like we can do anything.” The strawberry blonde mutters letting his other hand rise, sending out a blast that dug a small crater into the ground.

“Screw feeling like we can do anything. I think we can do anything.” I say, my voice hoarse as I listen carefully to the world around us. I hear footsteps on the floor inside, heading towards us. I yank my hand away quickly, watching as the light dissipates.

I stare at the boys as I raise my hand to stare at my palm again. Ryder’s laughter causes my head to shoot up, “I think we just found a new secret weapon!” I nod slowly, looking at Jack.

“Now all we need is a plan.”

#

I stand tall as I watch the animal-like aliens attack the border around Wakanda, Ryder at my side, Mason next to him, Dean and Cas standing to his left, Steve and T'Challa standing on my right, a sword in each hand, guns, extra ammo, throwing knives, and plain daggers tucked into my belt smirking as the aliens die from hitting the wall. Farther down the line, Avery was double and triple checking her guns, her gauntlets at the ready, and Jack was nervously twitching as Wilson questions him about not needing weapons. On the other end of the same line of defense, Nat and Sam were quietly conversing, standing very close and looking on the verge of a kiss.

I turn to watch the aliens begin to head around the side of the force field listening to Steve and T'Challa decide to open the thing. Steve looks at me for a moment before all hell breaks loose. T'Challa and his army yell out a battle cry and we are charging forward, the field opening and aliens charging in at an impressive speed.

I move quickly slicing and killing any alien I can with my blades, hoping that I don't have to resort to my more… magical weapons. People were talking through the comms, yelling out demands and moving quickly around me. At this point and time, the only thing I could truly think of is to not go for people, anything that looked alien was free game.

The fights were usually moving too quick to process as the rampaging figures were charging forward. My blade ends up knocked out of my hand as I dodge one of the giant death donuts, the other getting lost soon after. Shit, those are my favorite weapons. I spin around to find an alien ready to attack an unarmed Okoye. Fuck it, seems to be fewer casualties if I do use it than if I don’t. I send a wave of gold power in that direction sending it flying away. I stop it in mid-air, letting it slam into an invisible barrier, a crack ringing through the air as it drops in a heap. I spin, throwing things through the air, shoving Giant Death Donuts away from people and throwing quite a few directly into the Dome, watching them explode. “That would have been helpful from the beginning,” Okoye calls out, stabbing an alien with my blade. So that’s where it went.

“The blades were less dangerous for our side of the playing field,” I call back, sending another one flying with a flick of the wrist. It crashes into another, an explosion ringing loudly through the field.

“The powers are much more effective.” She states firmly, nodding in thanks and raising the sword, charging back into the brunt of the battle.

The next break in my fighting was when I see Cas and Dean's forms shooting toward the woods. I yell something into my comm that seems incoherent to my adrenaline drunk mind, turning to nod at Ryder and Jack before taking off into the woods after them. Everything is silent in the thick woods, the only sounds are of the group ahead of me, and the two people behind me.

I break through a crowd of trees to see the embodiment of my worst nightmares. Dean lays on the ground in a puddle of his own blood, Cas nearby an unconscious, unmoving fixture on the ground, and Vision leaning backward, weak. Wanda was the only one in fighting condition, and even she was beginning to fail.

I stare at my uncle's once shining green eyes, usually filled with unsaid emotions, now dull and empty. An image of him years ago, bullets through his chest, another of him torn into by hellhounds. As these images fill my brain, my anger, and agony grows to the point of bursting. I turn, my arms shaking, towards the man who watches me carefully, "You seem to be the only smart one here. Not fighting me does seem to be the better option; I am only trying to save the universe from itself."

I still hear the pounding of feet behind me, almost here. “You killed them.” I stare at his purple face, gauging his reaction, feeling what I can only describe as fury in its purest form rushing through me.

He steps forward, his large hand extended as if to offer it to me, “It had to be done, Little One. He was trying to prevent progressive thinking and I,” The anger in my veins erupted at the simplicity in his tone. As if murder is the only option. I stretch my hand out backward, feel the two boys grabbing my hand, moving to stand next to me, the white light building around us.

“No, it didn’t. There are so many better things to do with that gauntlet, other options.” I say softly, the memories of all their deaths flashing through my head over and over again, gripping the boys hands tighter, extending my other hand towards Thanos.

“This is the only option. Stop trying to fight me, let go and let me help the universe. I-” The boys follow my lead, extending their hands also. I keep on watching the deaths on repeat before crying out, a blast of white light erupting every cell in my body in flames. It hurt. The physical feeling of forcing the power out didn’t, it felt almost natural; the emotional agony, the complete shutdown of any normal thought process, the bone-crushing grip the boys had on my hand; it all hurt. And it all seemed to drain out of me, seems to be happening to someone else the longer the blast continues. Everything seems to fade into darkness, pure and blissful and numbing.

Today-

"So you want that talking raccoon to take us to space; so that we can find Tony up there?" I ask looking at the beat-up group of superheroes. Vision and Wanda had bandages on to cover their burns, Steve looking relatively normal, but wincing and touching his ribs every once and awhile. Thor is missing his eye, but he swears that it was like that before the battle. Sammy was patching Nat up like he would after hunts, no matter how much we would complain we were fine. Everybody else in the room was either battered and bruised or just refused to get medical treatment.

"The name's Rocket, thank you. And I live in space, traveling there and finding someone? A piece of cake. I just need a ship." The talking raccoon, Rocket, speaks up, fiddling with his gun as he talks.

"We have helicarriers and other types of planes, but no spaceships. Think you could make do with that?" Natasha speaks up from across the room, Sam seeming to be done working. She steps toward the group, raising a blonde eyebrow at the weird look she receives from Avery.

"Do you have any spare parts?"

"In our workshop, there are plane parts, take anything you need. Take a team. I have to attend to my people and the damages done in the battle, I do hope that this will help. I will have my people work on removing the stone safely as soon as possible, but I believe it is in your best interest to leave Vision in our care until it is removed." T'Challa quickly speaks to the- to Rocket.

"Thank you for your generosity, you have helped us in more ways than can be returned," Steve speaks up from the side of the room, giving the King of Wakanda a grateful look.

"Of course, Captain. I will have Shuri take you to the loading bay, how long do you think these modifications will take?" I put my head in my hand, looking at the group in front of me in disbelief. We're trusting a talking raccoon from space.

"Depends on what you have in that workshop of yours. At most, maybe three hours, at least one."

"Okay, we leave in four hours. We'll take whoever is willing to go out of this group, the uninjured or minimally injured." Steve takes over the conversation as T'Challa heads toward what I assume is a gathering of Wakandan soldiers, a girl leading Rocket and a tree person, who I guess is named Groot, away from us and to what I assume is the workshop.

As they discuss the game plan, Sam moves to talk to me. The new Sam, not my uncle. Maybe I'll just call him Wilson. "Are you okay?"

"Do you mean physically? Yep, not a scratch on me, Wilson. I'm going to call you Wilson from now on, I already know a Sam."

He nods, laughing under his breath, "Sure, you can call me Wilson. How about mentally? You did see your uncle dead and-"

I stand up, turning to talk to the rest of the group, "Did someone retrieve the rest of the Infinity Stones? I know that you plan on getting rid of the stone in Vision’s head, but what about the rest of them?"

Natasha looks at the group, who had stopped in mid-conversation, "We can decide that after we retrieve Tony, okay? Are you planning on coming with us?"

"Of course I'm coming with you. Do you want Jack and Ryder to come too? They could be more help than me, I’m still a little out of it. Doubt I can do much damage with my powers like this."

"You're more than just your powers, Kirstin. Bring your blades with you, your dangerous with them, with or without powers. Even a little out of it." Sammy speaks up from the other side of the group.

"Yep, I'm gonna just go find Jack and the rest of my... Mason, Ryder, and Avery. Andi is still in the building right?"

"Yeah, she was helping Shuri, and it's been confirmed that she's okay, maybe a little banged up," Steve assures me as I turn to leave. Nodding, I quickly turn and leave, ignoring the look Wilson was giving me.

  
  
  



	12. 11

Jack's P.O.V.- Present Day

"So we're going to get on this," I point to the odd looking ship, looking drastically different than when we rode here in, "and go through the sky to space?" Kirstin nods, looking around us. There were a lot of people around us, though quite a few were absent; Sam, Mason, and Avery were staying behind to help the Wakandan people back on their feet, doing whatever they can, along with Andi. Natasha was standing with the Falcon and Captain America, who were conversing with the raccoon. Ryder was next to us, seemingly in his own little world, "Do you think we'll see Heaven?"

A laugh erupts from her mouth, sounding hollow and fake, "No, Jack. There are only two ways to get to Heaven; the entrance and dying, so as long as we don't die, we're good."

"Oh. Well, I figured that since Heaven is above us, and so is Space, you'd be able to see one when you're heading toward the other." I furrow my eyebrows when her face forms into one of shock. Before she can begin to speak, we're being ushered forward by Natasha and being told that she was our babysitter. And that we better behave ourselves or she'd stab us. I kind of believe her. After everyone was on board, I began to look around and see who all was going. Our group consists of; Natasha, Steve, Sam Wilson, Thor, Groot, Rocket, Bucky, Kirstin, Ryder, and I.

"Yeah, yeah. Like that'll actually do anything. Anyway, I'm impressed with your thought process and how good a theory that actually is, but that's not how it works. Heaven is... is basically another dimension, one that humans can only see after they die, if they didn't, like, go to Hell. But Hell is the same way, no matter how far you dig, you'll never reach it, but you know it's below us because that's what humans say. So... yeah, good guess but not quite how it works."

"Okay I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I've gotta ask. How the hell are you so calm? I mean you watched your uncles die, you've fought aliens and killed them." Sam Wilson interjects himself into our conversation as the hatch closes and the raccoon moves to the front with the tree guy. He told me his name was Groot. Seven times.

I turn to watch her face closely as she speaks, feeling the plane-thingy begin to take off. She tugs her ponytail end, trying to adjust the long hair. Cas would constantly tell her that having such long hair was a safety hazard, but Dean would always shut him up and telling her he loved her hair no matter how she decided to cut it. He even went as far as to find ways to make the long hair safer on hunts, putting it up in different styles and teaching her how to do them. Avery had usually preferred her hair short, but he taught her too, just in case she changed her mind one day. She told me he was big on them making their own choices.

I look down at my lap as I begin to feel worse than I did before. Cas, he was my father, even if it isn't by blood. He loved me and took care of me, and now he's gone. In the blink of an eye, a mear spot of blood on the blood-soaked hands of the psycho Thanos. And Dean, I'm pretty sure he hated me until I went through the portal, but we were just starting to get close. Now I'll never get the chance.

"I'm not fine. I'm not calm. I'm numb. And I think that's more painful than anything. Don't worry, it'll hit me soon. You just better hope you're not there when it does." The last line was a joke that kind of fell short, her voice nearly deadpanned as she spoke. "Avery is the more emotional one, she wouldn't have been good for this. She considers it a liability to start an emotionally charged battle. And for all we know, there could be a battle... How about you, huh? Aliens a new thing for you?"

"Not for most of the team, but for me yeah, definitely. I mean, I knew they existed because of the Battle of New York and all... Though I don't remember them looking quite as awful on the news footage." Sam easily slides into the joke, making Nat scoff slightly.

"I don't know, the camera has a way of splitting down the middle most of the time; you either look insanely gorgeous or like you just gorged yourself on seven pumpkin pies. I think we all know which one you look like, Wilson."

I laugh along with the group before looking at Natasha, asking as quietly as possible, "What's the Battle of New York?"

"You don't know what the Battle of New York is?" That was Bucky. He looked kind of different, but Kirstin told me it was rude to say that, thinking I was talking about his arm. I don't think the arm is funny, I think it looks cool. I just mean that I liked the way he looked. When I explained the feeling to Avery she told me I thought he looked 'hot', which means I find him aesthetically pleasing, or something. It definitely feels different than it does with Mason though, which she explained was because I had feelings for Mason  _ and  _ found him aesthetically pleasing.

I nod quietly answering the soldier, who began to form a look of surprise, "How not?

"He's barely a two years old, dude. We're still teaching him how to act like his age, and to explain that people don't always say what they mean. We haven't had time to go through any sort of history lessons or even pop culture lessons, so everything he knows is based on five things; Stark tower, Sam, Dean, and Cas, Avery and I, Mason, and the internet. A slightly child-proofed internet. Oh, and Natasha." Kirstin barely even looks up from cleaning her blades

"Isn't that nine things?" Natasha questions from across the helicarrier. Kirstin cocks her head to the side, a small smile on her face.

"I was grouping together the boys as one thing. Same with Avery and I, you are a part of that group too, I guess. Mason gets his own category because who the hell knows what he's been teaching him." She mimics a scared face, proceeding to pretend to gag. Ryder snorts from next to her, his head leaning against the wall.

I smile as she bursts into giggles, the team around us following suit, the collective amount of laughter, me soon following after. Her laugh was contagious, everybody we know thinks so.

As the laughter dies down I decide to continue the previous conversation, "I know a little bit about History, Dean had been sort-of teaching me about the big wars and stuff. Also a lot of pop culture references. Kirstin sometimes does that too, but she won't tell me what the phrase is from."

"That's kind of cute, but how about we back up for a minute. How are you a year old, because you look about nineteen?" Steve asks me, before glancing to Kirstin.

"My Dad is an Archangel and my mom was a human. That gave me powers, and my mom told me before I was born that it wasn't safe for me as a baby. So after I was born, I grew up to look and act about nineteen. I'm twenty physically now. But technically I'm one." As I finish explaining, Sam nods turning to look at Natasha.

"Seems legit."

"How about, instead of talking about backstories and everything, you all get comfy and take some naps, because this is definitely going to take a while." The raccoon says from the front seat.

"How do you even know where we're going?".Kirstin inquiries from next to me.

"Well, before I can find your friend, I need my crew. And I have trackers placed on Quill, one of them, because he's usually the one running off to do something stupid. Right now, he's on Titan, so that is where we are heading."

She nods turning to Sam and mockingly mutters, "Seems legit."

"Alright, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting some shut-eye before we land on an alien planet. So, wake me up when we land on the said alien planet." Sam adjusts in his seat before laying down, me and Kirstin following suit.

#

"So what's the plan when we get there? Just walk out and hope we don't die?" Kirstin asks the few people who were still awake; Natasha, Bucky, and me. Kirstin and I, being Nephilim, can only sleep maybe an hour a day, and that's pushing it. Kirstin came up with a plan to push her sleep boundaries as far as she possibly could; she was able to stay up for two months with only a night of sleep. For her, a night of sleep is two to three hours, for reasons she refuses to explain. So we set up a schedule about how we should sleep; at least once a week, so we're less likely to bother people if we sleep nightly. This means that we can't sleep now, because it would throw the sleeping schedule off.

Natasha rolls her eyes, "This isn't a Hunt, Kirstin. You can't walk in half-cocked and come out relatively okay. This is space, the odds are unpredictable at best, chaotic at worse. There could be who knows how many Thanos loyalists ready to shoot us where we stand, maybe even out of the sky."

"Sending Kirstin and I out first would be the best course of action, right? I mean, we can't die, so them shooting at us would be for the best." I sit up, looking at the gun attached to Kirstin's belt, then to the blades in her lap, (she's cleaning them again, though they appear to be spotless; Castiel could probably figure out why, if he was here) before looking at the blonde woman in front of me.

"No. I'm not letting Sam loose anybody else. We're going to come up with a plan." The unsaid  _ "I'm not losing anybody else"  _ was heard loud and clear.

"But you won't have to lose us. Bullets don't hurt us! We'd be perfectly safe. You know the only thing that can kill us, and there is no way in hell that will be there. We'll be safe, we'll kick ass, take names and drag Tony back by his ear. We aren't losing anybody else... I don't think I could handle it." Kirstin's voice cracks slightly as she speaks, staring down at the blade she is viciously attempting to clean. I feel a wave of bad emotions being shoved down my throat. Frustration, anger, pain,  _ gone. _

It was worse than finding out what happened in the field.

Bucky, who seemed to be content just listening previously, spoke up, "You're not going to lose anybody else, not if we can help it. But, this is a good idea, Kirstin, Jack, and Ryder were the only ones to walk out of the explosion that killed Thanos completely unscathed; it's useful and safe. They won't get hurt and the can do more damage than any of us."

"It's three against one, Natasha, we got this. I want to help and Kirstin wants to take her frustration out on the Thanos' followers. Everybody wins." I smile at the end of my sentence earning confused glances from two of the three people awake.

"Damn right I do. Someone needs to get the shit beat out of them for what happened." Still cleaning the already spotless blades, her voice harsh and her eyes unfocused.

"I don't think that's a healthy coping mecanis-" Bucky's concerned voice is drowned out by the yelp leaving my mouth as we jolt to a stop; and that is drowned out by the sound of the raccoon yelling, waking everybody up in the process.

"We're here."

  
  



	13. 12

_ Freshman Year _

_ Kirstin giggles, Avery and her walking around the corner. Well, she tried to walk, Avery was running, and their linked elbows meant Kirstin was just being dragged along behind her; hence the giggling. They had been in New York for about two months, and Avery was eager to do as many things as possible, especially since Tony had given her a credit card. Today, they were going a few places, specifically a bookstore, which was fun, and a food place she wanted to check out. It had a weird name; Topeka's or something. _

_ "Can you slow down please? I like my arm attached to my body. Why are you in such a hurry? It's just food. Nothing special." They go flying around another corner but quickly slow down as they come to a staircase leading down. _

_ "Because I have friends now, unlike you, and they're the ones who invited us." Avery speaks excitedly, quickly heading down the stairs, Kirstin still being dragged behind her. _

_ "Hey, I have friends. And by us, do you mean you?" Kirstin quickly matches her cousin's pace but falls when she comes to a complete stop. Avery is quick to let go then, because falling in a skirt is not fashionable, or easy to walk off, no matter what the movies tell you. _

_ "No, I mean us. I assume that's what they meant when Ryder said to bring 'New Girl' along too. And you have, like, two friends. Who are friends with my friends, so of course they want you here. Mason and Andi, right?" When Kirstin just scoffs and stands up, Avery opens the door and lets them through. _


	14. 13

_ Eleven years ago _

_ Dean watches his niece sit quietly in front of the Impala, waiting for Sam and Avery to check them in. Avery decided since she's nine now, that she was old enough to help them with adult things like checking in and research. Of course, research was completely out of the question, there were quite a few 'adult things' he figured she could do. Helping them pick up food and things like that. _

_ Kirstin, however, seemed to enjoy being the youngest, playing with the Nerf sword she talked Dean into buying her. Or the Captain America doll she talked Sam into getting her. Or the plush Stitch she had talked Bobby into getting her. What could they say, the kid had a gift. While she was really good at talking people into, or out of, buying her stuff, the boys really hadn't heard her speak much since she moved in with them two years ago. And from what he heard, and learned from his time raising Sam and Avery, were that most six-year-olds are very talkative. _

_ "Hey, Kirstin?" She hummed quietly looking up from making Captain America fight a Barbie, "Come here for a minute." She quietly got up, setting her toys on Baby and walking the short distance from where she was sitting to the wall next to the check-in. _

_ "Uncle De?" She questions as he crouches down to her level. _

_ "How are you doing, Kiddo?" _

_ "You've been with me all day Uncle De. I'm not hurt, you would know." _

_ "I meant, with the whole traveling thing? You okay with moving so much?" _

_ "I mean, yeah, it's fun! I get to see new places all the time, move all over, watch Scooby Doo at almost anytime I want. I even get to meet new friends everywhere we go! How can someone not like this?" He smiles slightly. Leave it to a six-year-old to totally blow his mind. All of them hated moving around so much and she thought it was fun. _

_ "Really? You like it?" She nods eagerly, a smile on her face. He smiles as she does ruffling her long hair before standing back to his full height, "Alright then, my little Wanderess, go grab your toys, I think Uncle Sammy just booked our rooms." _

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Present Day

I slide my blade into place, shifting forward to pull the gun I had taken out of my waistband. I stare at it, moving the light colored gun in my hands.

Dean's gun. The last thing of his that I own. I load it, tucking it into a spot on the utility belt, instead of the waistband of my suit. I then proceed to make sure all of my weapons are in place, where they should be, ready for use.

"Okay, so you three plan on being the front line?" Steve questions as we move toward the hatch. I nod, double checking my weapons again and making sure my mask was in place. The black and white theme of my suit was a stark contrast to everybody else's costumes, who either had a solid color or a very vibrantly designed costume. It's fitting, in a way, for my costume to be split into polar opposite colors; just like being a Nephilim, really. You're a weak human and a powerful Archangel, all jam-packed into a tiny package. Well, I'm tiny, I don't know if there are other tiny Nephilim out there; Jack is only a few inches taller than me, and nowhere near as tiny looking, "No way. I'm not letting you go out there alone."

"Suck it up and throw your freaking morals to the wind, this is happening." I snap, glaring at the man I had considered an uncle. Hell, since Tony and he have been slowly ( _ Very slowly _ ) mending fences, it's like I'm being reintroduced to a stranger. Until he opens his mouth and pulls this shit.

"Tony would kill me before my morals got the chance to, Kirstin. You aren't doing-"

"Alright, let's get a move on! We're burning daylight, Morons. Pixie, Blonde, Redhead let's go." Rocket speaks, moving quickly toward the hatch, shoving past Steve and me when we were apparently in his way. I gotta admit, I like his attitude, even if he is a talking raccoon.

"You heard the trash panda. See you out there, Cap'n." I walk towards Rocket and Jack, Groot following me, "Alright, you psychotic raccoon, let's get this show on the road."

"I like your attitude, Pixie." With that, the hatch opened and the four of us move out of the ship quickly to find...

A completely destroyed planet that seems nearly empty. I move quickly, not listening to the commands Rocket was trying to give while I maneuver around the ruins, blades at the ready. As I get closer to a large section of debris when I gun presses to the back of my head. I slowly slide my blades back into place and put my hands up.

"Who are you and who do you work for?" A man's voice harshly whispers in my ears. I nod slightly, snorting as I quickly pull out the sarcasm my family is always eager to provide.

"Well, who am I? I don't know, that type of existential question could take years to formulate an answer to, I mean; who am I? I ask that question every night as I binge watch depressing Netflix shows. As for the second one, that kind of depends if you shoot me or not. I work as a waitress, but if I'm dead I don't work for anybody, so-"

"You think you're funny?" The man snaps from behind me, voice quite louder than before.

"I think I'm adorable. I also think- JACK!! RYDER!!!!" I scream for my cousin bloody murder as I shove the man away, pulling Dean's gun from my waistband and pointing it at him. The brown-haired man with a weird looking mask stands in front of me

"Kirstin!" Jack’s voice is surprisingly close, considering I totally wandered away from the group. Three figures come barreling in from the right. Rocket, Jack, Ryder, and Steve come to a stop next to me. Rocket was quick to drop his gun.

"Peter, good. I was beginning to think my tracker was broken." Rocket steps forward, in front of the group of people ready to hurt this Peter guy. I slowly lower Dean's gun, putting it in my holster.

"Tracker? What tracker? You've been tracking me?" The guy tucks his weapon away as everyone else follows suit.

"Doesn't matter. Where's the rest of you, we've gotta go. Promised these guys I'd help them find their friend." Rocket turns to walk away, but Peter stops him.

"Does this friend have a name?"

"No shit, dumbass. Everybody has a name." I speak up, sarcastically, like always, "There are more of your friends here?"

"Yeah." He presses a button behind his ear and his mask disappeared, which reveals a human face.  _ Damn, I was hoping he'd look weird. _

"Okay let's get them and find my uncle before he ends up dead." I gesture for him to start walking. He takes the lead, followed closely by Rocket, Steve, Jack, Ryder, and me. Steve and I constantly look behind us as we walk, Peter and Rocket’s arguing filling the air around us. They aren't very good at stealth, I take it. The closer I get, the more voices I hear. One very prominent, very familiar, and very,  _ very  _ angry. _ Don't I know that tone well. _

Without thinking, I shove my way through the group, all but kicking Rocket out of my way, sprinting past the new guy and barrelling straight into Tony's arms, "Kirstin? Kid, what are you doing here? How did you even get here?

"The talking raccoon behind me knows how to fly a ship. It doesn't matter though, because you're okay! Thank god! I thought you might have been dead too." I bury my head in his neck as his arms wrap around me.

"Too? What do you mean 'too'? Did Thanos... Did Thanos get the last stone?" I don't answer just staying where I'm at, tears falling freely down my face and all over his shoulder.

"Thanos tried to remove the stone from Vision's head, but Kirstin, Ryder, and I stopped him. He killed Cas and Dean before she could get there. Vision is okay though, in case you were wondering." Jack's quiet voice sounds from behind me, full of not-so-hidden sadness and pain. I pull back from Tony slightly, drying off my mask and face before turning around. I catch Tony sending an unnecessary glare at Ryder.

"So I guess that searching for Tony won't be necessary."

That earns a laugh, not from in front of me, but behind me. I turn to look behind me to find, three unrecognizable people and the one and only Peter Parker, "Yeah, that will definitely save on time and gas. Or whatever spaceships run on."

"Peter Parker, your aunt is gonna kill you." Came flying out of my mouth before I could stop myself quickly followed by, "Hey, you gave him the suit!"

Tony chuckles quietly, "Yeah, I did. Better give her props kid, she came up with the spider leg idea."

"How about instead of talking, we get back to the ship, and back to Earth." Natasha's voice joins the group, causing me to snort.  _ Always gotta make an appearance, Ms. Romanov. _

"You are planning on taking us back to Earth right?" Peter questions moving to stand next to me.

"Of course! Round trip, as promised. I keep my word." Rocket speaks for the entire group of people before turning around, taking the lead with the New Peter, muttering the next part quietly, "I'm not stupid enough to piss off the trio that killed Thanos. That takes power."

"I heard that, Trash Panda. Thanks for the compliment." I call back as the bulky grey skinned man walks past me with an alien woman. The man stops momentarily.

"You guys killed Thanos?" I nod looking at my uncle then back to the man, raising an eyebrow. He takes a slight step back, nodding slightly before walking away, a caped man, Tony, Spidey, and me bringing up the end of the group. I nod slightly, turning towards Tony.

"Definitely time to go home," I mutter quietly.

"Definitely. I could use a nap, or five. Fighting Thanos was not easy." He mutters as I examine his destroyed suit.

"Really? We just blew his ass up. Angelic powers for the win." I joke, still examining his suit as best I could while walking.

"That just proves that you're all much better heroes than me, Kid." I make a sound of disapproval, but he keeps talking, "That means we should probably give you a name. A code name, so we don't blow your cover more than we already have. Any ideas?"

I smile, looking at the ground as we walk, "Yeah, yeah. I think I might have one."

"Care to share with the class?"

I nod slowly looking up at him and smiling, "I was thinking Wanderess."

  
  
  



	15. 14

Jack's P.O.V.- Present Day

We arrive back in Wakanda in maybe a day. It's hard to tell time in space, but I think it was a day. Anyway, when we got back to Wakanda, Vision and Wanda were standing there, looking rather anxious. I trail to the back of the group, linking arms with Kirstin, "They don't seem very happy to see us."

"Their probably nervous to see Tony again after two years. I mean, wait till they find out that they aren't war criminals anymore. Haven't been since three months after they left. The Accords were altered too, thanks to Sam and Dean." I stop walking as Steve, who was standing in front of us, comes to a standstill.

"Or they have bad news." He mutters quietly, before moving forward again. Kirstin snorts quietly, her voice loud and full of snark.

"Wow, Steve. Ever the optimist."

"You're one to talk." I rebuke, a small smile on my face. We step into the morning sunlight, squinting at the drastic change for the dark lighting in the remodeled helicarrier. My smile grows wider as I tilt my head back and let the sunshine over my slightly pale skin, the warmth a welcomed companion. It's amazing to think that someone I'm related to created all these amazing things around us. All the beauty in the world, all the pain that comes with it. But I've been told that pain makes the world seem more beautiful. Not in the beginning, but at the end of it. When the pain fades and you see the beauty you saw before the pain began. Of course, it still looks beautiful when you are in pain, but nobody ever seems to notice it. All they have to do is look around, get lost in it for a while, and maybe it would help. At least, I'm hoping it helps.

A whistle comes from somewhere in front of us, "For a one-year-old, your pretty sassy."

"Says a teenager whose dating said one year old. That could technically be considered cradle-robbing, Mase." Kirstin's voice is lighter than it was before, not as weighed down by pain. She seems a little bit better than she did before we left. Or she could be acting. She's really good at it.

I snicker as I open my eyes, Mason's 'hurt' expression being broken by the obvious amusement in his eyes, and the beautiful smile on his face. Humans are so complex, so fragile, yet so powerful and strong in every sense of the word. They process these emotions that Angels can't grasp, most Angels not being able to process them for some reason. Humans deal with threats like this all the time and, even when some of them crack under the pressure, build themselves up while knowing these awful things. They are the real beauty in this world, especially Mason. Nobody should ever think different.

"Now, now, technically him dating me is barely legal. I'm eighteen while he looks and acts like a twenty-year-old." Mason slings his arm over Kirstin's shoulder, smoothly sliding between us as he grips my hand. He shifts so Kirstin and him are facing me before pulling me toward him, a wide smile gracing his face still, bigger than before. He has to bend down just slightly, he's a few inches taller than me.

He carefully places his forehead against mine, staring into my eyes, "Hey there handsome. How was space?"

I smile, pulling him into a small kiss. That turns into a few small kisses before pulling back with a large grin on my face and an amazing feeling in my chest, "There were a lot of stars. It was kinda dark. Guess what?"

"You punched the raccoon?" He jokes, pulling away slightly as Kirstin fake gags. I chuckle at the noise, and the obvious joke, noticing the sad smile on her face but acting like I don't see it. She looks at all of the couples in our group like that and hates it when we point it out.

"No. I'm like the people from Star Wars now! I traveled through the galaxy." The giddy feeling grows stronger when he laughs bending to kiss my cheek as we move to join the group of somewhat happy superheroes.

"What's the plan now? I mean, we're all made up and happy to see each other, but we're still war criminals. And we still have those powerful stones inside." Sam's voice had changed from a joking one to the obvious voice of reason at the moment. The slight smiles on the groups face faded, the nervous energy still obvious in Wanda and Vision, who still had the stone in his head.

"You guys haven't been informed?" Kirstin asks, looking at Tony, who wore a slightly guilty expression, "I thought I told you to text him?"

"Hey, you don't  _ tell _ me anything. I am the adult in this relationship, thank you. I tell you what to do, not the other way around."

"Whatever, Tony." She gives him a blank look before muttering under her breath slightly. I laugh again, deciding that I wanted to tell the group before my giddy feeling and excitement of being with Mason and just getting back from  _ space _ wear off.

"You guys aren't considered criminals anymore if you sign on to the Men of Letters. They're like a... buffer, between the people who work for them and the government. Ketch and Mary run the British one and Cas, Sam, Dean, and... Sam, Nat, and Bobby run the America branch." I look over at the couple who was joining the group after my falter, hoping Sam or Nat would pick up where I left off.

"Yeah. It's a secret agency really, we rebuilt the American one using the resources from the rebooted British sector. That one had been shut down for.. reasons, but Mom and Ketch have really turned the place around, Charlie had been a real help. Anyway, we found out that the Men of Letters had connections in the government, and that Tony was struggling to figure another way around the Accords and having to be directly connected to the government." Sam smoothly transitions into the conversation, as though he had been there the whole time.

"Long story short, Bobby, Mary, Charlie, and Ketch pulled strings and got us amnesty, and a way to go back and be heroes again. Unless you are willing to retire, either way, you're free to go home. The press release of this information was released three months ago." Natasha adds to the conversation pulling Kirstin from Mason and wrapping her arms around her, saying something quietly about some people and her needing to talk.

"Not only are you scary, smart, and beautiful, but you're motherly too? Is there anything you can't do?" Tony jokes as Kirstin pulls away from the hug, an eye roll waiting for him as she's being tugged toward him, "She's my niece, you can't have her."

"Is it okay if I speak to them alone real quick. I need to discuss something about their brother." Wanda speaks gesturing to Sam and Tony. The group dispersed quickly leaving behind Kirstin, Nat, the two aforementioned men, Wanda, Vision, Mason and I.

"What's there to talk about, Wanda? He's dead. They're dead. It's pretty self-explanatory." Tony snaps, quickly seeming to try and shut down the conversation. Guess this family is more alike than originally thought.

"We went to collect the bodies, so you guys could bury them, or whatever he had planned to do if he passed. We know there were bodies, we were awake when we were picked up by the medical team, even if Kirstin wasn't." Wanda begins, stepping forward slightly. Kirstin glances around the group eyes blank even as a smile appears on her face, a not-so-obviously forced joke smoothly leaving her lips,

"Passing out in a battle, not one of my finest moments."

"Please do take note that the aliens had already retreated at this time before we tell you the rest." Vision pauses waiting for a nod from Tony before continuing, "The force field was placed back intact after they were fully exterminated from the perimeter."

"Vision, will you stop stalling and just tell us what the hell you need to tell us. Now is not the time to drag on a conversation about our recently deceased brother."

"The bodies are gone. They disappeared without a trace."


	16. 15

Kirstin’s P.O.V.-Present Day.

I step out of the helicarrier, smiling as I notice the Bunker not far off from here. Inside the helicarrier, was everybody on the team, the people who originally lived at the Bunker, some new people like Dr. Strange, and all of the Infinity Stones, us having dropped Ryder of in New York. “I guess we have perfect timing.” Sam mutters quietly after looking at his phone, “Bobby just texted me. That’s actually slightly concerning.”

“I think it's more concerning that this Bobby knows how to text now. Seriously though we should probably drop these guy off in some rooms and see what he needs.” I watch as everybody unloads, all with a certain degree of happiness and disbelief on their faces. It must be weird to be back.

#

“You wanted to see us?” Sam questions as we wander into the War Room, finding Bobby standing at one of the tables, a man standing next to him. Jack was standing next to me, eager to find out why we were needed. We had all spent two hours around the Bunker before meeting up, me changing into jeans and one of Dean’s old band t-shirts before making my appearance down here.

“You make it sound like he’s a principal, Sam,” I mutter under my breath as the other guy leaves the room, leaving just the four of us. Footsteps from the other room were heard before we were being joined by Mary. I smile moving to hug her, before remembering there was probably a bad reason she was here.

“We were wandering the trails earlier today, talking about the progress we were making with the new recruits in Britain when we found her. A scout found him maybe twenty minutes ago.” Mary begins quietly as she and Bobby lead our group into another room, the library. On the tables were two bodies covered in sheets. One was a girl from the Apocalypse Earth, Maggie. We weren’t really close, but she was a nice girl. Seeing her unmoving body hit me like a sock to the gut. But the next body brought full blown tears to my eyes.

“Ryder.” I move to his body, moving to touch him before taking a step back. Then another, then another. “I-I I think I’m gonna go, I gotta-”  _ I just saw him… we just dropped him off, he can’t be… how did he even…  _ I teleport as far away from there as I could, ending up in front of the Institute, slumping against the gate as the tears stream down my face.

I sat there for what must’ve been hours, the sun nearly down when I returned to find Lucifer standing with Jack, Mary, and Bobby in the middle of the library. He had his hands on each of their foreheads, healing them.

“What the hell is going on here?” I snap, earning a look from Lucifer.

“My father, he’s going to bring them back.” Jack smiles at me as I watch Lucifer wearily, Bobby and Mary seeming to do the same

“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” Lucifer closes his eyes as he speaks, focusing as I turn to Jack.

“Has he done something to you? I mean, you know he’s the bad guy, right? He kidnapped me.” I ask quietly, my eyes never leaving my uncle.

“I heard that. Heard it. And I’m… sorry by the way. It was Anael’s idea really. She wanted your power.” That lying son of a bitch. I took a step forward, prepared to knock him on his ass but Jack quickly grabs my arm, his eyes so trusting.

Jack smiles at me, “Everything is going to be fine.”

Lucifer goes back to working on bringing them back as I glance at Mary, “Where’s Sam?”

“He’s picking up Dean and Cas. A little present I plan on leaving for you when Jack and I leave. You’re welcome.” As Lucifer finishes, the two dead people jerk up from the table, both gasping for breath as the doors to the Bunker burst open, grabbing our attention. We saw the three boys bolting down the stairs as fast as they could. I turn back to look at Jack, only to find him gone, along with Lucifer.

I turn running towards the group and literally jumping on Dean, hugging him tightly before dropping myself to the ground without getting a hug in return. I spin around to Sam, “How did Lucifer get back? I thought you ditched him in the Apocalypse World?”

“We got a lot more problems than just Lucifer. However he got back, he brought that Earth’s Michael with him.” Sam and Dean explain what happened at the gas station. When they finish, the group divides, Sam going to talk to Ryder and Maggie as Cas and Dean quickly attempt to devise a plan. I slump into a chair, staring off into space as I think. Michael and Lucifer are back. Dean and Cas are alive because of Lucifer. Lucifer and Jack are leaving, but Michael seems determined to destroy Sam and Dean if their story is anything to go off of. But why would Lucifer leave? He could rule Earth, use Jack to get what he wants, finally achieve what he’s been trying to achieve his whole life.

Maggie, Ryder, and Sam must’ve joined us in the room at some point because when a loud bang resonates through the room and the lights begin flickering, Maggie, Mary, and Bobby were forced to exit the room by Sam and Dean. They both turn to me, Sam about ready to speak, “Kiss my ass. I’m not leaving. He’s my dad’s doppelganger and I’m not letting any of you get hurt. Not again. We’re doing this together.”

“You need to-” Dean doesn’t get to finish his sentence as the door starts to shake, a bright light shining through the room.

“Hey, Dean?” I call out over the noise, pulling his gun from the waistband of my pants, tossing it to him, “You’re gonna need this. Ryder, go get as many weapons as you know how to use and get your ass back here.” He nods heading in the direction in which I pointed, I turn to Avery, Andi, and Mason, who had just run into the room, as the shaking gets harsher and the light gets brighter. “You need to-”

“Evacuate everybody, I know. We’re going.” Avery cuts in, pulling me close and kissing my forehead before she grabs her girlfriends arm, heading out. Mason hands me my blade, kisses my cheek, stopping before he leaves, needing me to shove him for him to start moving.

“Alright here goes nothing,” I mutter as the door burst off its hinges, Michael entering the room easily. Sam and Dean begin to fire at him, Cas moving to lunge at him, angel blade in hand. He easily strikes Cas across the room, sending him sliding over a table and landing harshly on the floor.

Sam runs forward to attack, but he’s flung into a wall, hitting it harshly. Dean rifles through the weapons bag as I step into a fight, swinging my blade at him. He catches it, twisting easily, forcing me to let go. He grabs it moving to stab me. Dean interferes, hitting the blade out of his hand as he moves to stab him with the angel blade. We fight, Dean and I tag teaming, getting as many hits in as possible, but in the end, it didn’t matter. Dean was smacked across the room as Michael wraps his hands around my throat, choking me.

“How did you-” I begin.

“Get here? I made a deal. And now this world is mine. I can save it, purge it of sin and abominations like you.” Michael cuts off my sentence.  _ Just like my airway. _

“Oh, yeah, 'cause that really worked on your rock.” Dean snaps trying to push himself up to stop him. I shake my head as well as I can with the iron grip on my throat.

Michael stares directly into my eyes as he speaks, “I’m not perfect. Yes, I made mistakes. But second time’s the charm. And you… Kirstin Winchester will be the first life that I take in this world, first soul I save. This world will be free from abominations like you.” His grip begins to tighten, the sound of me trying to breathe echoes through my ears as the burning in my throat grows.  _ I’ll survive this. I will wake up after he thinks he killed me a slaughter him and his brother,  _ “Could've done this quick, but I wanted to enjoy it, that moment when the soul leaves the body... it's beautiful. I want to feel your grace diminish from your worthless, half-breed body.”

A ripple of energy moves through the room as my vision begins to blur, “Jack.” Sam’s voice is heard as a blast sets off and I’m being dropped to the ground. In a fluid movement, I stand up, clenching my hand into a fist, like Jack is, making the pressure pulsing through Michael's chest double. I tap Jack shoulder lightly, whispering in his ear.

“Let me. I’ve always wanted to do this.” My eyes begin to glow as he slowly releases his fist, Michael’s body visibly relaxing, but only slightly. I squeeze my fist tighter and he cries out in pain, growling out a statement that changed the course of tonight's events… probably for the worse.

“Lucifer! We- we had a deal!”

I let out a gravelly laugh. Jack turns to face his dad and I notice Ryder standing in the back of the room, weapons strapped to his person. Lucifer starts to stutter, tripping over his words, “Okay, game over. Tell your cousin to stop and uh… Hey, buddy, let's, uh, let's, uh... split, okay? Just get her to stop and we’ll head out, yeah?”

“What does he mean?” Jack asks, looking like he was about to cry and sounding pissed.

“I-I-I don't know. I didn't -- I didn't hear.”

“Coward.” I mutter under my breath, keeping my grip on Michael and turning to speak to Jack, “They had a deal. Lucifer gets you, and Michael gets everything else, and they both get me out of their way.”

“He's gonna nuke our world, Jack, just like he did his,” Dean adds, standing up slowly, moving next to Sam, closer to Jack, Lucifer, and I.

“Is that why you wanted us to leave?”

“Leave?” Sam muttered under his breath.

“He said he’d take me back to the stars. I wanted to see them again. They were so beautiful.” He looks at me sadly.

Castiel adds himself to the conversation going on between our family, “What, and you're just gonna leave the rest of us here to burn?”

“Okay. Hold on a second. Let's slow down, 'cause I...I'm not currently the bad guy here.” Lucifer tries to stop the conversation from continuing.

“Tell that to Maggie and I.” Ryder snaps, walking towards the group.

“What about Maggie and you?” Jack was shaking at this point, out of fear, anger, or sadness, I couldn’t tell.

“Lucifer killed me after you guys dropped me off and brought Dean and Cas back for you. They were a type of ‘present’ as he put it. I was supposed to be a martyr. A distraction to keep Kirstin away from you. If I died, he figured she would be upset, would retreat away from the people she cared about. And Maggie…”

“Maggie saw the eyes of the person who killed her -- the glowing, red eyes,” Sam interjected.

“You're, gonna -- you're gonna believe these guys? Come on, man! They're haters!” Lucifer yells, a childish tone in his voice.

“Tell me the truth!” Jack’s voice wavers as he speaks, but what catches my eye is the fact that Ryder was looking down at his hands.

“They would say anything to get you on their side.” Ryder outstretches his hand eyes glowing gold as he sends some form of energy toward Lucifer’s chest. Lucifer’s eyes shine gold as Ryder talks, his voice harsh.

“He asked for the truth, give it to him.”

“I killed Ryder when he got dropped off on the roof, killed him ass soon as the plane was out of sight. Maggie saw me when I was scouting out the Bunker. She saw me and she screamed, and then...so I crushed her skull with my bare hands. And it was warm and wet, and I liked it.” Ryder drops his hand, Lucifer looking confused as soon as his eyes stopped glowing.

“Did you lie about Kirstin too? Was that really Anael and the other angels? Or was that you too?”

“I..” Ryder’s eyes glow again, this time his hand doesn’t even leave his side. Both sets of eyes glow, “Yes. I kidnapped Kirstin. I figured I could use her as a bargaining chip, but that stupid phone was recording the whole thing. So I opted out, planned on keeping her locked up in heaven’s jail, but somebody busted her out.” The glow faded and he groans again, “That power of yours is really giving me a headache, Buddy.”

I release my hold on Michael, a groan escaping from his lips as he falls to the ground, slightly black-tinted blood is streaming from his eyes and nose. Jack has tears streaming down his face now, “You're not my father. You're a monster.”

Lucifer’s eyes glow red, his bellowing so forceful, Sam and Dean had to cover their ears, while I slightly shift, “Come on, man!” He breathes in deep, still sounding angry, but not nearly as loud, “Okay. I tried with you. I really tried with you.”

“Everything you told me was a lie. That’s not trying.”

“Because I told you what you wanted to hear, man. So what?! I killed the girl! Big deal! She's a -- she's a human! She doesn't matter!” Lucifer moves closer to Jack, looking pissed.

“So am I!” Jack yells back. I turn to Ryder, forgetting the two’s conversation for a moment.

“How long have you had the powers anyway? Forgot to ask in Wakanda” I lean in close, nearly whispering in his ear. I hear a slight chuckle under his breath at my question. Or maybe it was the fact that I’m asking him now of all times.

“Since I stabbed myself in the shoulder. So the day you ended up at the Institute. You?” That was almost a week ago.

“Since Rowena shot me in the shoulder. So about four years.”

“...And I really wanted that, pal. I wanted that. But now if I can't have it with you, I...I don't need ya. I just need your power.” Lucifer pulls out an Archangel blade, slicing Jack across the neck and sucking out his grace. I lunged forward to stop him, Ryder wrapping his arms around me, yanking me back. He must’ve miscalculated how strong he was because we both went tumbling backward, falling nearly on top of Michael. I watch as Sam grabs onto the duo as Lucifer and Jack begin to vanish. Sam disappeared with him.

 

 


	17. 16

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Present Day

Dean stands there, utterly shocked, looking at the place where the three of them disappeared, "What just happened?"

"I don't know." Castiel mutters quietly.

"The Devil won. That's what happened." Michael croaks.

"Damn it! I should have been paying attention! I should have protected him." I yelled slamming my hand onto the floor, sending cracks away from the spot I hit. He ate Jack's grace. An Archangel with Nephilim grace cannot end well.

"How do we stop him?" Castiel demands, stepping toward Michael.

He chuckles, a breathy painful sound, "You don't. After consuming the Nephilim's grace, Lucifer's juiced up. He's super-charged. He'll kill the boy, your brother. Hell, he could end the whole universe if he put his mind to it. And you thought I was bad."

"Supercharged," I mutter quietly. Lucifer's grace was slightly depleted, right? Taking Jack's grace juiced him up, but his tank was low, to begin with.

"No. No, you beat him. I saw you." Dean denies furiously.  _ Supercharged. _

"When he was weaker, and I was stronger. Believe me, I'd love to rip my brother apart. But now in this banged up meatsuit... not happening. This is the end, of everything."

"No. What if...what if you had your sword?" He takes a step closer to Michael, the question hesitant on his lips.  _ Supercharged. _

"Dean, no." Castiel steps forward.  _ Supercharged. _

"I am your sword. Your perfect vessel. With me, you'd be stronger than you've ever been."  _ Supercharged. Come on, think of something! _

"Oh, I know what you are." Michael's voice sounds nearly smug.  _ Come on! Come on! _

"If we work together, can we beat Lucifer?"

"Dean!" Castiel interrupts.

"Can we?"  _ Think. Think quickly. _

"We'd have a chance."  _ Think faster, Kirstin. God, the one time you're brain is actually useful, it is nowhere to be found. _

"Dean, you can't." I glance around the room, seeing an archangel blade merely abandon on the floor.  _ Maybe one from the other Earth? _

Dean spins around to face his boyfriend, "Lucifer has Sam. He has Jack. Cass, I don't have a choice!" He faces Michael again, "If we do this, it's a one time deal. I'm in charge. You're the engine, but I'm behind the wheel. Understand?"  _ What can I do with this information, what does being supercharged have to do with- Oh! _

Dean was about to say yes to being Michael's vessel, so I did the first thing I could think of to stop him from speaking. I screamed, bloody murder, causing everybody to look at me.  _ Go time. _

I lunge toward Michael, the second archangel blade flying into my hand. Yanking his head up, I cut his throat, sucking his grace out of him. After I completely drain him, I pull his face down to look at me as my eyes glow brighter than before, a strong feeling of power surging through my veins, "Hasta la vista, not-my-father. I hope you go directly to Hell. Do not pass go, do not go to the Empty." With those final words, I plunge the blade into his chest, watching as blood spews out, instead of the flickering of grace. I lick my dry lips, standing up and turning towards the couple standing in front of me. Oh, and Ryder. I think for a moment, looking at an incredulous Cas, and an impressed Dean, "So, there might have been another choice," I pause for a second, "Does that count as killing my father? Answer that when I get back. Playing a hero, yet again."

With those parting words, the scene around me changes as I pinpoint Lucifer's location. A church. How ironic. I appear right on the inside of the door my eyes blazing, stopping long enough to slide my mask from my pocket and onto my face, easily slipping into the character I use when fighting.

I look up, seeing Jack starting to stab himself, "Woah, hey. None of that." The blade comes flying to my hand, "Nobody is dying here today." I tuck the blade into my jacket pocket.

"Wow, you think you putting on a mask makes a difference, Kirstin? You're still as weak as you were without it." Lucifer snaps harshly, appearing in front of me.

"You sure?" I smirk, punching him directly in the chest, a large boom ringing out as he stumbles backward. I spartan kick him in the same exact spot I punched him, watching him fall down. I go to punch him but he grabs my arm flinging me toward the roof. My wings spread out, stopping me right before I hit the ceiling. He soars up after me, trying to slam into me, but missing as I spin to the left, dropping to the ground and landing in a crouch, needing the leverage of knowing my battlefield.

"What's the matter, Luci? Haven't forgotten how to fight have you?" I yell upward, using a power I've used often, it's like second nature. An image of me with my wings open, flying around Lucifer tauntingly. Another image appeared next to me, many more popping up around me all of them doing the same movements at once. Lucifer quickly drops to the ground when it appeared my illusion was going to dive-bomb him. I teleported in front of him, punching him in the chest, then appearing behind him and kicking him in the spine, going around, and around, kicking him and hitting him everywhere I possibly can.

"This, ugh, isn't, oof, a very fair, ow, fighting style, ouch, for a hero, kid." He spins catching my leg mid kick, yanking me forward and twisting, probably expecting me to fall. Instead, I jump, twisting, in the direction of which he was moving my leg, kicking him in the head. When he falls to the ground I rip my leg out from his grip, reaching into my pocket to grab the archangel blade and- shit. It isn't in there.

"Kirstin!" Sam yells tossing me the blade. I snatch it from the air, pointing it at Lucifer's chest, slamming my other palm onto his chest and moving us right in front of Jack and Sam.

"You know, asshole. I think you have something that belongs to my cousin." I pull Lucifer's head back, turning to Jack, nodding for him to take it. He leans down, the blood on his face dripping onto Lucifer's face as he consumes his and his father's grace. After he's done, Lucifer smirks up at me.

"Good job, Kirstin. Now I can leave, get more grace and be the ruler aga-" I stab him through the chest, watching the blood gush out.

"The names Wanderess, dumbass." I pull the blade out, standing up to see a fully healed Jack and a wide-eyed Sam, "So... what do we do with the body?"

#

"Damn, we missed one hell of a party, huh?" Tony jokes, walking into the room, "I mean, we were down for joining but Avery has got a will of steel." We had called everybody together to meet for a celebratory dinner. Everybody was slowly gathering into the library, in which almost all of the tables have been moved into two single-file lines, making two gigantic tables. At the side of the room, all the way against the wall were two tables full of food, enough to feed everybody here and then some. Had to adjust a few things for the super soldier calorie intake. Even this much food barely made a dent in the credit card Tony had given me. I don't even know what the limit is, he refuses to tell me. Something about how I'd immediately give it back if I knew. He's probably right.

"Considering she just sent Bucky outside to help Sam and Dean burry the two most powerful angels in existence... I'd say it was probably for the best we missed that fight. I highly doubt any of us would have made it back. Yes, Tony, that includes me." Natasha jokes, taking a drink of the vodka in her glass. Let's just say, there were probably more people drinking than there should be, considering at least half of them are probably alcohol abusers. Not that that is really important, or anything.

Bobby walked up to us, a beer easily sitting in his hand, "I wanted to talk about an idea you might consider, Kirstin. I was wondering, maybe we could send a group of us back, collect more survivors, bring 'em to this Earth. Now that Michael's gone, the angels are probably gonna scatter, so collecting the humans and bringing them back here should be easier. Only thing is..."

"We need a way to get the rift open, I know. I've been thinking about all the people over there we abandoned. I actually have a theory about this. Maybe Jack and I, working with a warlock or two, and Rowena could open a rift to the world. I was thinking to send a group of ten through, make sure they have the weapons they need, and the information they need. We'll go through with you, round everyone up. Sound good?"

"Where do you plan on getting a warlock here from? Their very pricey, Kirstin, even I know that." Bobby raises an eyebrow, probably itching to call me an idjit.

"Yeah, well I happen to have a very large amount of money, thanks Tony, and I have someone who will be here within the hour. He's bringing his family, though. I arranged a completely empty hallway for them and a few more, closest to where Ryder is staying as possible. Rowena, well, she's just a state over, collecting ingredients she thinks will be useful. I also got the aforementioned Warlock to bring some Shadowhunter friends to help train the people we're sending through. I also plan on talking to Sam and Dean, see if they can help too."

"Kirstin, that ain't thinking about it, that's planning it. How long have you been setting this up?"

"Uh, three hours and ten minutes, give or take. I set this all into motion about an hour after I thought out all the details. You said it yourself, we won't leave those people behind to suffer."

"Okay, I'll round up everybody I think should be sent over, definitely gonna be calling to get Charlie on the squad. That is one tough girl." I smile as he taps his beer against my cup of soda, leaving to wandering through the crowd.

"Wow, maybe you should think about becoming a strategist." Ryder jokes, plopping down in the chair next to me, drinking his own beer.

"They do know you're only nineteen, right? Wait, don't answer that, I really don't care at this point. Can I get a drink? I've always wondered what beer tastes like." He shrugs handing it over with an evil looking smirk on his face.

I take a swig, pulling the bottle quickly away from my mouth, swallowing quickly. I start coughing, making a grossed out face, "That shit is nasty. Ugh, take your rat poison back."

"You've just lost your alcohol v-card. How does it feel? Like losing the real thing all over again?" Wiggling his eyebrows at me in that oh so annoying way he does. He usually only does it when he jokingly flirts with me. Obviously, it's a joke because that will never happen. I mean sure, he's handsome but his personality clashes with mine so much (not because we're super different, because in some ways we are, but actually because we're a lot alike too) that we're more likely to have a conversation that is full of sarcastic remarks than to actually talk.

I blush, embarrassed and put on the spot, "I-Uh... I couldn't tell you." I feel his eyes on me as I awkwardly stare at my drink, "You know what, I'm gonna go talk to Earth's mightiest heroes, see if they plan on signing on here or retiring."

"You know," He grabs my arm, stopping me from moving, "I think that you're considered a part of that group now, Wanderess." I smile softly, looking down at my cup with pride and still mild embarrassment.

"You think so?" My smile was impossible to hold back and probably looked as goofy as I felt.

"Definitely."

  
  
  



	18. 17

Jack's P.O.V.- Present Day

"Are you mad at me?" I solemnly ask, staring at the door of Mason's room, my head resting on his chest as a movie plays. Mason sighs lightly, shifting to grab the remote from the nightstand. He exit's Netflix, shutting down everything before turning and looking at me.

I sit up, my gaze sliding off of Mason and back to the door. Here it comes. He's gonna tells me he hates me and never wants to see me again. That I'm a monster like my father. "Why would I be?"

I turn to him, incredulous, "I was going to leave with Lucifer. I was going to leave everybody behind to die. I-I hurt the guy I thought killed Maggie and Ryder. I'm... I'm a monster, just like Dean predicted I'd be."

Mason laughs, a light-hearted sound that was nearly a giggle, moving to pull me closer, so I was straddling his waist, "Jack, listen. Darling, you aren't a monster. You thought you were avenging Maggie, your friend when you hurt that guy. You thought he was a murderer. In my opinion, hurting murderers is free game."

"But he wasn't the one who killed her, he was innocent. I hurt an innocent person." I stare at the brick wall now, refusing to meet his eyes as tears stream down my face

"Did you know he was innocent? And when you found out he was, did you continue to hurt him?"

I sniff leaning to rest my forehead on his shoulder, "No, but-"

"But nothing Babe. You didn't know what Lucifer was planning. You just wanted to know about your father. If I blamed you for that, I'd be one major hypocrite." His voice was dulcet and diplomatic, speaking facts and keeping a soft, comforting tone, his hands resting on my hips, "And Dean was upset. He had just lost someone he loved. He blamed you because that was easier than facing the facts that Cas made his own choices. He doesn't think you're a monster now, does he?"

"No. He called me family." I smile at the memory.

"Exactly. You are family. Everybody here is one big family. Dean and Cas are your Dads, Nat and Sam are like your Aunt and Uncle. Avery and Andi are your sister and sister-in-law."

"Kirstin's my sister, too. Even if it isn't by blood, we're a family. Right?"

"You got it, Dude" I turn to look at the door, finding Avery, Andi, Kirstin, and Ryder there. Avery was smiling at her own little joke.

Kirstin pushes Ryder out of her way, jumping and landing next to Mason, twisting till her head was in his lap and I was sitting next to them, earning a giggle from me and a smack on the head from Mason. That seemed to release the floodgate. Everybody else starts to climb onto the bed, "Did you know that archangels don't really have DNA like humans do? Our genetic code for our fathers is matching. So genetically, we are half-siblings, even though we're cousins. You're genetically my brother from another mother."

"You're my stepbrother. Point blank. No fancy science involved. Step-siblings, as close as we can be to related, but definitely an accurate reflection of our relationship." Avery speaks softly, moving so she was laying next to me, Andi turning so she's facing us and laying on her stomach. Ryder us laying on her stomach. Ryder was sitting at the end of the bed, legs crossed and also facing us.

"Maybe Cas and Dean plan on getting hitched at some point. Then you would really be step-siblings; not just figuratively. And why are you getting all comfortable on the bed? We were sent to collect them, not crash their slumber party." Ryder mutters the last part under his breath. Kirstin sighs contently next to me as Mason plays with her hair.

"Why can't things be normal? Why couldn't Jack, Avery, and I be born to a normal family? Two parents, a dog, and a cat. A little house over where Riley lives. We could've met you all, had normal conversations... instead, we talk about murderers, other Earths, and Jack and I constantly debate if we're monsters or not. Our uncles are considered serial killers, I murdered my uncle and my father's doppelganger. What was normal like?"

Mason looks around at the group, "I mean, even if I hadn't met you guys, my life wouldn't have been normal. My mom's a Dhampir Guardian who ran away after my dad knocked her up. I have these unexplained powers that we pretend don't exist until I'm needed to fight. That isn't very normal, is it?"

Kirstin makes a confused noise in the back of her throat, "We're supposed to pretend those don't exist? Shit, I've been doing this wrong..."

"Nah, it's fun hearing you crack Spirit jokes. Makes me feel better about it somehow." I stand as he's speaking, moving to pull Kirstin off of the bed. I get her halfway to her feet before she goes completely limp, dragging me onto the bed with her. As I hit the mattress, Mason and her start squirming until both of them were laying over my arms, both of their heads laying on opposite shoulders. Avery and Andi curl up next to them, laughing when Kirstin kicks Andi's butt, Ryder nowhere to be seen.

"Nap now, mingle later," Kirstin mutters, closing her eyes. I follow suit, leaning my head back. It was like this for awhile, until I hear a clicking sound. I was planning on ignoring it until I felt Kirstin's weight disappears from the bed and arguing ensues.

"Where the hell did you find that?" She yelps as her weight vanishes from my arm. Her question seemed to wake up everyone on the bed, judging by the fact that when I opened my eyes, everybody else was sitting up as I was. The sight we saw was different, to say the least.

"I found it on Mason's dresser! Why is this such a big deal?" Ryder bellows, holding the Polaroid camera up as high as he can, the pictures it printed out discarded on the dresser.

"It's her's." Came Mason's lazily amused voice from next to me. It was husky with sleep, which made a weird feeling jolt through my body. I quickly bounce off of the bed, snatching the camera in the process, handing it to Kirstin. The next thing I did was grab the pictures, taking off out the door. I almost run into Sam and Dean, coming to a screeching halt right before I did.

"Hello," I state looking down at the pictures before handing them to them. They look at the pictures before looking at me weirdly.

"Well, I need Kirstin out here. Apparently, she planned something and didn't tell us." Sam states, handing the photos back to me.

"Okay. I'll get-" I turn to talk into the room, the door already wide open. I end up stumbling backward as Kirstin runs past me.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit..." I hear her repeat until her voice fades out. I look at the boys, confused.

"Probably forgot. Can't blame her." I shrug watching her leave.  


	19. 18

Ryder’s P.O.V.- Present Day

“Have you found anything?” Kirstin asks quietly as Magnus and I go through the books in front of him. It had been two weeks since he had shown up, bringing Alec, Max, Raph, My mom, dad, Aunt Izzy and Uncle Simon. Oh, and that stupid angel. Most of the group were going to make sure the people they take to the apocalypse world are trained properly, as much war experience they have doesn’t mean they know every trick in the book, Kirstin had made that point very clear to anyone who thought to complain. Cas and Ithuriel were helping with training because they are angels and they think like angels.

“I have a few ideas on what might work. However, I have no actual proof that they will. How about you? Have you made any progress on your plan?” She groans, banging her head against the table lightly. While our project was to help prepare these people for apocalypse world and find a way to get them there, Kirstin had a project of her own. Heaven was barely up and running, and that needs to not be happening anymore. The angels want Jack and her to create more angels, but she thinks that would probably end with them trying to kill the Winchesters again, so another plan was needed. That was left up to Kirstin because everybody’s attention needs to be on the plan. She swears up and down that she isn’t needed nearly as much as everyone thinks she is, so she took this on and so far, not to be rude, she was almost proved right. They don’t need her during the training and the research so much as they need to report their progress to Bobby, his leaders, and essentially her. Bobby and she were the ones planning this escapade, so everything has to be put by them.

“None. Zip, zero, nada.” I look down at the book I was reading, repressing a snicker. She may have been pissed, but her reaction was still kind of funny.

“Well, maybe you should talk with Cas go over exactly what Naomi said to him.” Magnus offers, closing the book he was looking through, pushing it to the side for the moment.

“I did one better. I watched the memory through his eyes, wrote down the whole conversation. I also couldn’t think clearly last night and ended up drawing Heaven, so there’s a plus. Not for research, but for my pride.” She opens a file she has, looking through it for a moment before sliding over a few pages. He reads them quickly getting about halfway through before laughing.

“This Naomi just basically referred to herself as a battery. What an adorable analogy. I can just see a glowing battery shoved up her-” Kirstin’s eyes go wide as she stares at the table, before shooting up, grabbing the papers from Magnus, thanking him multiple times before grabbing the file and sprinting out of the room. I finally give up and start laughing, “I think I scared her off.”

That makes me laugh even harder, turning to look at his confused expression, “No… No… I don’t… think so. She talks like that all the time. You probably gave her an idea.” He gives me an odd look before sighing.

#

I smirk as Jack falls to the ground with a huff, putting my foot on his chest, earning a childish glare from the blue-eyed boy below me. I laugh at that, moving to let him up when he grabs my legs and pulls me to the ground, quickly trying to pin me. I twist away, using my weight and newfound super strength to roll us over, “You give up yet?” I smile down at him, pinning his legs before grabbing his arms. He looks down, before smiling, looking over toward where Mason and Kirstin were talking, Kirstin drawing some weird battery-like thing since at least yesterday, and Mason cleaning the weapons. On the other side of us, my family trains the group who was chosen for going back to the Apocalypse World. I watch as his eyes glow, Mason’s beginning to do the same thing.

Mason’s laughter rings through the room as he appears in front of me, easily picking me up and putting me in a headlock, “This is so cool. Why haven’t you done this in those stupid fights at school, Kirstin?”

Kirstin glances over in our direction, shrugging as I quickly get out of the headlock, taking the couple on at the same time, “Because I can’t do that. Jack seems to be the only one capable. Trust me, it pisses me off as much as you think it would, but then I remember that I can make my enemies watch the people they love die on repeat and instantly feel better about my powers.”

I snort grabbing Mason’s arm, easily doing a backflip, twisting it awkwardly before kicking Jack as I hit the ground. I knee Mason in the chest, releasing his arm and sending him sprawling before turning, blocking Jack’s punch as he runs up at me and using the momentum to throw him over my shoulder, “You guys are good, really good, but I’m better. No matter how many people you add to the fight.”

Kirstin’s laughter rings through the room, a light airy sound that should be heard more often than it is now, “I wouldn’t say that, Ryder. We’ve been working on that power since he was three months old. He’s able to convert twenty people and still be able to fight, thirty without participating in the fight. We have fifteen people in this room, excluding you and me. You wanna test that ego of yours?”

I pause for a second, thinking about the odds of that fight as Jack and Mason pick themselves up, eyes no longer glowing gold, “Not in particular, thanks for the offer though. You can create illusions, right?”

“Yep, since I got my powers I was able to. How about you? Any powers you think we might not have?”

“Umm… so far I found out that I can teleport and that I can force the truth out of people. And I always know when someone is telling the truth and when someone is lying. Oh, and obviously super strength.” I go through the list quickly, thinking it over as I sit next to Kirstin, who had gone back to her sketching. She quickly stops as I finish speaking.

“Always?” tucking the pages away, she turns to me, awe in her voice.

I nod, “As far as I can tell, yeah. Always.”

Mason sits down across from me, Jack going him, “We should totally test this out.”

“If you must.” I joke grabbing a blade and starting to clean it.

“I’ve never owned a dog before in my life.” Kirstin begins. Lie.

“Your lying.”

“Yep, had one until I was five and moved in with Bobby.”

“I’ve… Ran through the streets of New York with nothing but our school's Mascot head and my underwear.” Mason cuts in. True.

“Dude, that’s weird. Why would you do that? True.”

“My hair is dyed black. My natural color is a light brown like Sam’s.” Kirstin tries, smiling a big adorably goofy smile. Lie.

“Not true. Have you ever died your hair before?”

“Yes.” Lie.

“No,” I say firmly, moving to clean the next weapon in front of me.

“Damn, this is so weird. I don’t have anything like that. Jack?” True. She passes the question of to Jack.

“No.” True.

“So we have power granting, an illusionist, and a human lie detector? Okay but seriously, why do you all have different powers. Your essentially the same beings.” Mason questions eyes narrowing as he concentrates.

“Draw some blood, see how they differ. Maybe there’s a clue in there somewhere.” Kirstin offers, picking up her stuff. Mason had planned on being a doctor for a while, so he learned everything he could possibly learn without actively getting into any schooling. “Have Bruce help if you don’t understand anything. I think he might be good at that stuff.”

“Maybe we could use your guys’ blood for miracle cures. Separate the healing factor from the rest of the cells.” He jokes, leaning back in his chair.

“I mean, you could. I highly doubt any of us will stop you. Come on you three, of to the infirmary. Mason’s got a new assignment to work on.” She grabs her stuff, moving to the door and leaving. I look at Mason, raising an eyebrow. He shrugs.

“I mean hey, at least it keeps me busy.” I chuckle, turning around to leave.

“Whatever floats your boat, Mase.”


	20. 19

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Two weeks ago

"I'm not sure if I should be scared or impressed by what you idjits got going on in here. What is all this stuff?" Bobby asks, looking around the lab we created. Within the past week, I talk Bruce and Tony into helping us, got the superheroes of the group to sign the papers and wanting to come with us to the other Earth, and as much lab equipment as I could teleport here from Bruce's and Tony's labs in Stark Tower. We even have a new A.I. hooked up in the Bunker. I named him Kevin because...  why not? He's smart like he was.

"It' stuff that'll help Mason with his current assignment, and me with mine. He's examining our DNA, seeing what makes us different than each other. I just need the workspace and probably a welder." Bobby shakes his head looking around the room again before looking back at me.

"Well, this stuff is fancy and all but it's not the reason I'm here. Have you talked to Magnus and Rowena lately? It's about the portal."

"No. I've been busy in here, figured one of you three would come to talk to me eventually." I shrug before standing up, "Do they have a way to open it?"

"We do, yes." I jump turning to see Rowena and Magnus standing behind me, the Scottish accent making it abundantly clear who would be standing there, "We figured we'd see how everything was going on the other side of things before we told you. Everything is ready to be opened, everybody is ready to be sent through, trained like they're supposed to be. It's all waiting on getting ready to go and you."

I smile, looking between them, "Well, then let's get this show on the road."

#

"So you realize you guys are going to have to take a lot of vehicles if you plan on getting everybody. I mean  _ a lot _ ." I look around at the group in front of us as Magnus speaks. Four other Earthers, including Bobby. Mary, Avery, Mason, Andi, Sam, Dean, and Cas, the Shadowhunters, Ithuriel, Magnus, and Rowena. Then we have the supers, which was everybody except Dr. Strange, who had left with the time stone a week ago, and the Guardians, who obviously went back to space after they dropped us in Wakanda. That, in total, added up to about twenty-seven people, not including Jack and myself. That right there took up nearly all of the bus we used when they got out the first time.

"Can you drive vehicles through the portals?" When I get five nods in return, I pause turning to Rowena and Magnus, "Alright, a slight change in plans. We're moving this party outside and I need Jack, Mason, Ryder, Avery, Andi and four others. And probably some alibis. We're gonna steal some school buses." I sigh, realizing how much of a pain in the ass this is going to be.

#

In the end, we stole eleven large school buses, meaning we could fit about five hundred and twenty-eight people if we do the whole two to a seat rule, plus some people in the middle aisle. Well, we stole four from one place and bought seven at another with lying about a forgotten 'class field trip', and bribed the people who were reluctant to hand over the keys. I also used illusions to make us look older And I was right, it really was a pain in the ass. In the end, we loaded everybody except for the drivers into one bus. Rowena, Magnus, Jack and I were the last people to get on, having to open the portal. We had set up people outside of the Bunker to make sure nobody got in or out that wasn't supposed to be there. At least until the portal closed.

  
  
  



	21. 20

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Present Day

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, we're not supposed to leave the camp, Kirstin." Mason worries, glancing behind us as we move away from the group of people.

"Yeah, well, I'm not risking these people's lives for a plan of mine. They're staying here, I'm leaving. Don't worry. I told Sam that I'm leaving and that I plan to meet them at the site. And even if I die, Jack is here." He lets out a weird noise that seems to be a mix between a groan and a laugh.

"Yeah? And what exactly is this plan?" I pause thinking for a moment,  _ Do I want him to know? I mean he'll probably want to come with. Is that really a bad thing? I could use the help, and he knows how to handle himself.  _ I sigh, hating my voice of reason, before pulling a box out of my bag, opening it to reveal slots full of vials. Vials that I'm hoping will hold angel's grace soon.

"I was thinking,  _ What would keep Heaven running without Jack and I creating more angels?  _ I mean don't get me wrong, if it wasn't for the fact that all of those souls would fall to Earth, I would be more than happy to let Heaven power down. Anyway, Naomi said something to Cas that really got me thinking. Magnus pointed it out to me. She said that every angel was like a walking battery. They are literally what keep Heaven's lights on. What, essentially, makes an angel an angel?"

"The halo?" I give him a flat look, "Kidding. The grace?"

"Their grace! So then I started thinking about how we could trick heaven into thinking there are more angels there then there are by creating a literal battery. Put vials of angel grace into a battery-like package. Make the first layer Adamas, to keep the purity of the grace. Put the second layer as melted down angel blades, so we don't corrupt the adamas, and put the last layer as demon-metal. They can't touch it, and none of this will affect the ability for the grace to work. The angels can't get to the grace and-"

"Heaven will stay up and running, without the chance of more angelic attacks to us. Kirstin, that's genius!"

"Good, only problem is, I need an estimated fifty vials of grace to get this to work, or more if possible. The more grace I have, the easier keeping heaven up and running will be. I already have the metals at the Bunker." I hold up my hand as he opens his mouth, a surprised look on his face, "Don't ask."

"I feel like that story involves Crowley." He jokes, grabbing his bag from the ground as I tuck the box back into my bag, along with the multiple other ones I have. Fifty vials is a lot.

"It does, and it's a long one. Now come on, before people realize we're leaving." We get pretty deep into the woods before Mason pauses, turning to look at me.

"We have the time."

"Shut up and walk."

#

_ Five Days Later... _

I let out a cheer of success as I count how many grace vials we have. Ninety vials. I quickly learned that each angel holds about three vials worth of grace, instead of one like I thought. While that may seem to make this job load lighter, but that means we actually need about three times as much grace as before. Sixty more to go.

"Okay so, we have ninety vials, meaning we need to find at least twenty more angels to meet the bare minimum. Do you have any idea how many will be in the next base we hit?" I question, tucking the vials back into my bag, looking at the people around the warehouse we were staying at. Over the course of the last five days, we've traveled about four hundred miles. We've hit seven different angel bases and saved nearly two dozen people from them, sending them to the meeting point Bobby, the rest of the leaders, and I decided upon. Seattle, Washington. We directed the portal to open in Maine, staying until it closed, and began working through the whole United States, realizing a while ago we couldn't save everyone in the world. We didn't have the resources for that, as much as I wish we did. We had just hit Florida when Mason and I left.

Since the mission Mason and I had started involved actively seeking out danger, we opted to send the people away, give them directions on what to do when they get to the meeting point, and take any human they meet willing to go with them. The most recent base we hit had three humans ready to be killed. We set them free and told them about the meeting spot, and the plan on what to do when they get there. In return they had given us a lot of useful information on the angels, telling us of a few bases they heard them talking about while there. There was also quite a few maps set up, some blueprints too. We have been finding that both of these sources are very useful. Now, we were inside a warehouse that another human colony has been living in. Everybody around us was preparing to leave, they had taken a vote and decided that leaving this world behind was clearly the best option, especially if  _ the  _ Bobby Singer cleared off on it.

"Nearly thirty, if what we were told is accurate. It's one of the biggest bases within the state, probably the capital." We also learn on this trip that angels have little bases all around states, but have one 'capital' base that has the most angels and the most resources being prepared to be sent out. We have only hit one capital, killing fifteen angels before the rest of them escaped.

"So we should find a way to seal it. Keep the angels from leaving and kill them all. Maybe trap them with warding?" Mason shakes his head, pointing to the exits on the blueprints.

"No way, too many exits. We'd get caught before we'd get the chance to get a single door done. Best case scenario we kill the angels that catch us, but the rest of them escape."

"Worse case scenario, they slaughter us without a second thought." I agree quietly examining the layout of the building. A few people in front of us, who I've been keeping an eye on, just in case, start moving toward us. I hear footsteps from behind me and instantly tense, hand moving to my blade, just in case.

"So take some of us with you." A familiar voice begins, moving around Mason to sit in front of the blueprints, being closely followed by a tall long haired man, "You'd need at least six, three groups of two to cover the other three exits, maybe more. You two take the front entrance, it'll probably have the most guards. You could take their grace after putting the warding up. We just need a favor in return." I stare at the woman in front of us, her brown near-black hair up in a messy bun and an unfamiliar scar down her cheek.

"Rose." The name slipped out before I could stop myself, causing the man to tense. Rose, however, leans forward, a smirk on her face.

"Good to know you've heard of me. Rose Belikov, all around bad-ass and one of the leaders of this colony. Now, I've never seen your face before, but I know exactly who this boy here is. Mason Andre Belikov. Not my kid, but the one from that alternate universe you've promised us sanctuary on."

I smile, laughing slightly, "Always quick to get to the point, Ms. Hathaway, Sorry; Mrs. Belikov."

"You're the Nephilim, right? If so, what is the point of collecting these angel's graces?" The man behind her speaks, his voice deep and with a strong Russian accent.

"Well because, for one, it helps get people to safety. For two... on our Earth, there are maybe twelve angels. Which sounds like a good thing, and I thought it was a good thing, except that angel's grace are what keeps Heaven running. If Heaven stops running, all the souls up there, fall to Earth, causing masses of unrestful spirits. It also causes a lot of death. So, I figured why not a two for one special? I save my world and save as many people in this place as possible. Any more questions, Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Russian?"

He chuckles slightly, shaking his head as Rose begins to speak, "I can see why that me likes you. You're brave, smart, and sarcastic." She turns to Mason, who seems kind of weary, "You have to be, what, eighteen? I don't know if the timeline there is the same as here. You have that tattoo, on your hand, so you're definitely older than sixteen. You'd snuck out and got that for your birthday with Andi."

"Actually, I got this done with Kirstin and Andi. We all got small tattoos; Kirstin got her Mom's initials and Andi got-"

"A star tattoo on the back of her neck." Rose finishes for him before turning to look behind next to her, at the rest of the people standing there. She gives them a weirded-out look, "Could you guys maybe introduce yourselves, I mean hovering about makes it look like you're gonna eat them."

"Very funny, Little Dhampir, that would never happen. Not without permission, anyway. I'm Adrian Ivashkov." A pale brunette man with green eyes mutters from the front of the group.

"Lissa Dragomir." A slightly petite, also pale with green eyes, blonde says next standing close to a black haired man.

"Christian Ozera." The man mutters, icy blue eyes watching me carefully. At the last introduction, they all seem to relax slightly, though Lissa still keeps a close eye on me. Rose explains her plan to them.

#

After being introduced to two more people; a man named Eddie and a girl named Jill, the plan seemed nearly perfectly formed. A plan that I was completely against. I didn't want to risk their lives for my stupid ideas and had said as much multiple times. They didn't seem to care much, considering we were taking nearly everybody in that group, excluding the newest girl we met, Jill. Each of them was set up with a waistband packed with vials to put grace in. The waistband had padding to make sure none of the vials broke and had enough of them in there to get, at most, seventeen angels.

We all got into different positions, set up around the base. The plan was simpler than you'd think. The duos were to slip in through the doors, one person spraypaints a ward on the door while the other watches out for angels, or fights them. Whichever comes first. What could go wrong?

Mason and I were paired together, obviously. He was the one doing the warding, I was doing the fighting until he was done. Rose was paired with Lissa, Dimitri with Christian, and Eddie with Adrian. We had already taken down three angels by the time we made it inside. Another three before Mason had finished the warding. And two more before we made it passed the entrance hallway.

We were quick to move through the warehouse, draining and killing twenty angels by the time we reach the back entrance. The doors were open, the warding clearly broke and fifteen bloody bodies laying on the floor. The two we were hoping not to find right in front of the door. It would have had taken at least ten angels to break the warding the way it was broken, meaning two things. One; they were ambushed, and two; we miscalculated.

I lock eyes with Mason watching him carefully as he sees his mother's doppelganger dead on the floor, "They're probably outside, maybe planning on reporting to the other angels. We can take them out." I nod, staring at the bodies as add the belts to our bodies, muttering a quiet apology. Instead of putting them around our waist, we put them over our chest like a sash. Easier access and we don't have to wear two belts.

We walk out slowly, seeing the angels just standing there. All of them making a horseshoe shape around the field in front of the warehouse. Behind us, I hear the doors close. Shit. I glance at Mason, a fake smirk slipping on to my lips as I glance behind us. Nodding slightly, reaching for the blade tucked in his jeans. In a swift movement, he slices the throat of one of the angels behind us as I create two fields of energy. One to stop the angels from leaving, and one protecting Mason. I wasn't too concerned with my personal safety as I move to drain the guard behind me, switching vials quickly before any of the other angels could reach us.

I finish off the final vial, plunging a blade through the now-humanoid-angel before quickly moving onto the next, then repeating the process, Mason doing the same exact thing. Take out the weapon, slice the throat, drain the grace, kill, and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. We did this for a long time, finally dwindling down their numbers to two. There were a lot of blasting angels away involved in that process, but that's not the important part.

I smile as my last angel drops, taking the vial away easily, turning to see if Mason was done. As I turn around, a woman's hand easily grips onto my throat, her grip like steel as a bloody blade plunges into my stomach. The woman has an easy smile on her face as blood begins to pour out of my wound, "You thought it would be that easy? Your an absolute idiot."

I look down at the blade sticking out of my body as the burn of the demon blood begins to kick in. I let out a screech as she drops my body to the ground harshly mud soaking the back of my clothes as the blood seeps through my shirt, "You aren't the first Nephilim we've dealt with, Winchester. We know how you work, what makes you tick. And we know how to kill you." She pulls the blade out, moving to stab me again, plunging the knife into my throat. My eyes go wide as Mason appears behind her slicing her throat following the process that he would for any other angel. Good, leave me to die knowing Mason could at least tell Tony my idea.

Everything slowly blurs together as I watch the sky. It really is beautiful, no matter what happens down here, the sky always seems to look the same. Even in the face of death, you can watch it and feel safe knowing it's beauty will always be there. Until a face gets in the way of that beauty. Why is there a face there? "Kirstin! Kirstin, come on. I'm not letting you die. Okay, just hold on I just need to..." I lose sight of him first, slowly followed by my hearing. Darkness. Darkness is good. It's an old friend of my family, waiting impatiently to swallow me whole. Waiting to take me to the sky where I'll see my mother again, or drop me through the ground until I see my grandpa. Or maybe until I sleep in the Empty surrounded by friends like Gabriel, by enemies like Abaddon, by acquaintances like Hannah, by the  _ 'it's-complicated' _ s like Crowley and Meg. Surrounded by darkness in a million year nap. Yeah, darkness is good.

#

_ "Kirstin, Kirstin, Kirstin.  _ What a mess you have made of yourself." A familiar woman's voice rings out. My eyes snap open, seeing the one and only Billy the ex-reaper, newly appointed Death, standing in front of me. I look around, not recognizing my surroundings. We were in some type of library, all the books black. All of them looking exactly the same. I turn back to look at Billy, seeing her reading a book, five more set out on the table.

"Billy, Billy, Billy. Why can't you let me die in peace? Are you here to complain that I killed too many people on my way out?" I grumble, moving to sit at the odd-looking table. It looked like one from Topanga's. Must be here for my sake.

"It is. Figured you'd want a little normal. And I don't care about what happened to those people. Rose and Dimitri were living on borrowed time as it is. Lissa and Adrian were either going to go down like this or kill themselves after the Darkness kicked in, I'm glad they received this end of that deal. Eddie... he was always going to die a noble death. He would fight bravely, valiantly, for anyone who needs it. He saved two worlds in the process of his death."

I put my hand up, stopping her before she could reach her point, "Wait a second, aren't we on a different Earth? Shouldn't there be a different Death here?"

"Death's job reaches every universe, everywhere. Just like the Empty. No matter where the angels and demons are killed there essence is sent to the Empty to rebuild. Unless they're killed the way you seem to enjoy doing it nowadays. Removing their grace before the death blow. Then they go to Heaven or Hell, like any other mortals. Though, lessons on how the multiple universes work are not why I called you here. I want you to learn something." She grabs a book off of a shelf, handing it to me. I open the book, seeing that it's Steve's showing many possible ways he could've died; should've died. I turn the pages slowly, though she stops me from turning the next one. "It's not my job to prevent the inevitable, Kirstin, neither is it yours. You don't have control over who lives and who dies, I want you to remember that. You don't have control over anything except your choices. Even then, it still plays out the way things need."

"Okay, what the hell is going on? Get to your point. I'd like to Rest in Peace" I snap harshly, moving into a standing position.

"I owe God a favor, he's cashing it in. Wants me to remind you to stop trying to demolish every form of destiny out there, some of it's the good stuff. I figured I'd go for the talking about changing death approach. After all, it is kind of fitting." I place my hand on my forehead, pinching the bridge of my nose slightly.

"Okay, but I'm dead, Billy. I don't care about this shit anymore. Now can I get the whole R.I.P.ing thing?"I turn to look at her, only to find everything dark again. Finally peace and-

My eyes snap open to see Mason's face hovering over me, an instant look of relief washing over his face.

  
  
  



	22. 21

_ Four Years Ago... _

_ Ryder smiles, watching the brunette girl in front of him laugh at the joke he told, her blue eyes sparkling. Of course, he has to laugh too, her laugh was intoxicating. It was nearly impossible not to smile around her when she's in a good mood. They were in a room in the L.A. institute, Ryder's drawing stuff sprawled out over the table, a drawing of her nearly finished. _

_ "Can I see it now?" She asks, trying to move into a position where she can see it, but he continues to block it from her view, still laughing. _

_ "It's not done. It's just a sketch, doesn't have color or anything, Liv." He smiles at her. He's known the girl in front of him for years now, knew everything there ever could be to know. It's not that shocking to realize that most people think they were a couple, they were that close. It used to be such a problem when people would say that, but eventually, they had stopped correcting people. She told everybody that they would think what they'd want anyway, but the real story is far from the truth. _

_ Neither of them would actively admit to being a couple, never truly say it out loud. Not because they don't want to, but because that means admitting defeat. They were everything a couple wants to be, do almost everything a couple would do, without the label, "I don't care, Ryder. I wanna see it!" She leans over kissing his cheek and giving him a pleading look. _

_ "Fine." He moves his arms away from the picture, revealing the girl in a flowy dress, runes scattered down her arms as they are in real life and beautiful wings spread out behind her. She was looking down at the ocean, the moon high in the sky, hair, and dress seeming to blow in a nonexistent wind. _

_ "Oh my god!" She gasps, voice and expression unreadable as she stares at the drawing. _

_ "I know, it's not that good, I could probably just-" _

_ "I love it! You're so good at this! You and I need to do stuff like this more often." She sets the drawing book down moving to hug the boy in front of her, who was beginning to stand up. He ends up falling back into the chair, pulling her down on top of him. They stare at each other for a moment before howling with laughter. When they begin to calm down, the girl smiles down at him, "Sorry." _

_ Instead of replying, Ryder takes in their position, she was straddling him in the chair, her body positioned so she appears taller than him. He begins running his hands through her hair. In a burst of confidence, he leans forward capturing her lips in his own. When she doesn't respond, he decides he should pull back and pretend that never happened. Before he can pull back, she's tangling her hands in his hair and kissing back. When they finally pull away to breathe, Livia Blackthorn looks down at him, breathless with a big smile on her face, "Maybe we should." _

_ Kirstin's P.O.V.- Five Months Ago... _

_ "Okay, but I'm dead, Billy. I don't care about this shit anymore. Now can I get the whole R.I.P.ing thing?"I turn to look at her, only to find everything dark again. Finally peace and- _

_ My eyes snap open to see Mason's face hovering over me, an instant look of relief washing over his face. _

Jack's P.O.V.- Present Day

"Jack! Jackie! Jack Attack, where you at?" I tuck around the corner into the kitchen of the Bunker, holding my finger to my lips in a gesture of silence toward the people inside. He hears footsteps down the hall, Kirstin's voice calling my name as she looks around. Avery snorts at my finding place before calling Kirstin in here, using helping her as an excuse. She walks past me quickly, a large wrapped up box in her hands.

I sneak quietly behind her, grabbing her shoulders harshly and letting out an incoherent yell. She yelps spinning around and going to hit me, dropping the box in the process. I stop the box mid-fall without touching it, using my hands to grab her fist and pull her into a hug, "You are so lucky it's your birthday, J. Otherwise I'd beat the crap out of you." She backs up grabbing the box out of the air and handing it to me.

I raise an eyebrow, "I thought you don't do gifts?" I grab the box carefully, opening the wrapping hesitantly.

"I usually don't, but I saw this and had to get it. Plus, this is your second birthday with us and I felt bad that we missed your first one because of the stupid vampire hunt." I finally get the wrapping off to see an unmarked box the was buck-taped shut. I easily pull the duct tape off, sticking it to Kirstin's cheek and giving her a cheeky smile. I pull open the box to find a pair of lightsabers sitting there. I laugh, picking one up and setting the box on the table, grabbing the other and handing it to Kirstin carefully.

"This is awesome! Now I'm a real Jedi!" I swing the lightsaber around, careful not to hit anybody. Kirstin examines the other one, lightly hitting the one I was holding with it.

"I'm assuming those are the good guys. I've never watched Star Wars. I almost bought you a toy Yoda, planned on making a car pun too, but then I saw these and had to get them instead. You like them?"

"I love them! Thank you so much!" I set the lightsaber down, repeating the process with Kirstin's before pulling her into a hug.

"Happy Birthday." She expresses quietly, squeezing me slightly.

"You two are adorable." Wanda's voice is heard as we pull apart, turning to see her leaning against the doorway Kirstin had come in through. She was smiling, though her eyes revealed mixed emotions; happiness, amusement, sadness.

"I prefer being called terrifying, but I guess adorable works. Now, Jack, you need to leave. They're gonna attempt to make a cake, and you don't get to see it until it's done. Go see Mase or something. I have to get back to work. Have fun!" With that Kirstin exited the kitchen, turning in the opposite direction I do.

#

"Hey, Buddy. What ya doin'?" Ryder questions, jumping up to sit on the table in front of me. I was in the library, reading a book Sam had given me; the Hunger Games. It was kind of sad, so Ryder was a very happy distraction.

"I am reading. I thought that would be obvious. How are you?" I close the book, setting it off to the side as I lean back in my chair. Ryder had seemed to be vanishing more and more often, leaving in the night and coming back late in the morning, smelling weird and going directly to bed. Mason told me he used to do... things like that a while ago, but stopped maybe a year ago. He said it had to do with a girl, that it was easier for him to deal with one-night stands than relationships, but I don't think it's a good idea.

"I'm alive, and in a good mood. I have also made plans for a few of us tonight. Now that you're twenty-one for all intents and purposes, we're going out tonight. Invite whoever you want, this bar doesn't I.D." I crinkle my nose in disgust. From what I've heard about bars and watched on TV, they don't sound very nice. "Oh, come on do not make that face! It'll be fun, you'll have a good time and so will whoever you invite." I'm not convinced, and start to say as much, but am quickly cut off by Ryder as Kirstin and Peter come into the room, "Meet me in front of the stairs at ten, we'll head out. Remember, bring whoever you want. I got to go."

I start to protest, "But-" He leaves the room before I can finish. I groan turning to look at the duo, one of which who is watching Ryder leave.

"... How many do you think you have left to- Hey!" Peter complains as Kirstin takes off after Ryder, sighing as she disappeared around the corner. I look at him as he sits next to me, "I swear that guys gonna ruin her."

"What's that supposed to mean? They've been friends for almost three years." I question angling myself and my chair to face him.

"Oh, come on. You can't be that oblivious. Ryder has been avoiding Kirstin since we got back, it's driving her nuts not being able to find out why. I personally think it's because he realized her and Mason basically share a brain, but either way, it's completely stupid." Mason, who showed up while Peter was talking, scoffs.

"I resent that statement. We share a mind  _ link _ . Two separate minds that can hear each other's thoughts and see through each other's eyes. Most only get a one-way bond... can't tell if that would be better or worse." He rolls his eyes, turning to the shelves, looking through the books.


	23. 22

_ Three years ago... _

_ Ryder draws in a breath, dressed in all white staring blankly ahead. Not only did he lose a grandfather, but his girlfriend too, all in one fell swoop. Annabel Blackthorn deserves to rot. They had just gotten back to New York from the ceremony, Ryder not speaking the whole time. _

_ "Do you want to have pizza or Chinese? I don't think any of us are in the right mind to cook." Clary mutters quietly, not looking at anybody as she speaks, eyes glossy with unshed tears. Ryder turns and leaves the room, not answering her and heading directly to his room. He changes directly after entering his room pulling on some random pair of pants, skipping a shirt altogether and moving to go down and train. _

_ He makes it to my doorway when he hears his phone go off. Pausing for a second debating if he actually wants to socialize, he sighs, moving to grab the phone and opting to stay in the room, slamming the door in the process. He could punch the shit out of a punching bag tomorrow. He opens his phone, seeing a message from Kirstin there, three that are multimedia messages and one that is a text. He sighs clicking on her contact and pulls up the messages. The first three were memes, but the last one was what brought the slight smile to his face. _

_ K: Hey, Mason told me that you missed school today because you were going to a funeral. I'm sorry for your loss and figured you could use the smiles. I know how it feels, so I'm here if you want to talk and understand if you don't want to. If you need some space for a while, we'll understand, but we'll always be here when you need us. It does get better. Again, I'm sorry for your loss. _

_ He stares at the message for a second, the small smile apparent, even as the tears stream down his face. Instead of replying, he buries his face in his pillow, letting the sobs wrack his body. _

Ryder's P.O.V.- Present Day

I quickly move through the halls, maneuvering around people and trying to seem casual. I can't look at her without imagining her dead, especially after Mason explained what happened. I see her, laying on the ground, blood gushing out of her stomach and throat, a bloody blade next to her. Then a picture of Livvy's corpse is next. Then Kirstin in Livvy's position. What if she hasn't made it? What if Mason had been too late? What if, what if, what if.

"Ryder!" Oh, speak of the devil. Or think of, I guess. Doesn't matter. I turn the corner into an empty hallway, quickly trying to go through the rest of the hall when the open space in front of me... disappears. There's only a wall there. I spin around and come face to face with a pissed Kirstin, "Why are you avoiding me?" Her voice was harsh, pained. She probably thinks she did something wrong. As if she could ever do something to push me away. She's too... her.

"I'm not talking about this," I say, turning to leave. The hallway behind her is blocked by a wall also. Realising it's an illusion, I go to walk through it, only to run right into a solid mass of something.

"Just because it's fake, doesn't mean you can walk through it. It's almost like a force field. So, your options are to talk about this or stay locked up in here until we starve. Or dehydrate. Whichever comes first."

I scoff, avoiding eye contact, "You're insane."

She pauses for a second, seeming to have a mental conversation before responding, "Mason agrees. He also says that Peter thinks this is because Mason and I have a mind link. And that it's stupid, which I am inclined to agree with that point." I sigh, looking around at this makeshift prison she created, punching the wall. Hard.

It has nearly the same effect as hitting a regular wall, except a rush of unwanted and painful power shoots up my arm, earning a groan, "God, that hurts more than punching a regular wall."

"Глупая сука, I told you it was like a force field and you still proceed to hit it?" I get momentarily distracted, raising an eyebrow at her, "You know Russian? What did you even say?"

"Yep, I live with Nat, for one. She tends to cuss a lot in Russian. Plus, Mason found out his dad is Russian and made me learn the damn language with him. I called you a stupid bitch, by the way."

I sigh again, turning to look at the fake wall before turning back to her, "You're really not gonna let me leave?"

"Nope, start talking." I close my eyes for a moment, seeing her corpse again. My eyes snap open as I turn and punch the solid wall, the one that wasn't created by an illusion. I hit it again. And again. I go to hit it again when Kirstin grabs my arm spinning me around, "Assaulting a wall is better than talking to me? Damn, okay. I see how it is." I spin around, facing her, anger surging through me, nearly screaming.

"It doesn't matter! It has nothing to do with..." I trail off, not having anything to say. It does have to do with her, but I don't know who to... how do you tell someone you keep on picturing them dead every time you see them, "It's... you didn't do anything wrong. Don't think you... This is all me." My voice softened as she grips my arm harder than before.

"Then what is it? You don't just randomly decide to avoid people! That's not how it works. Cause and Effect. What's the cause?" She stares at me, her face tilted slightly up. I wasn't much taller than her, maybe an inch or two shorter than Mason, but she still had to look up to look me directly in the eyes. Her blue eyes, bright, really bright, so much like Livvy's. Eye's like Livvy's, hair like Ty's, personality that can never be built up of other people. It can't be compared to anybody else, it shouldn't be. She could easily outshine the rest on her looks alone, but her heart, her fire, makes her who she is, she burns bright enough it's blinding.

"Jack told me you were dead, you know. It wasn't like we showed up to check on you. Jack felt your essence fading, by the time we got to the back door he said it was gone. Then Mason describes how you died, the image it's permanently etched in my brain! Every time I see you, that's what's there. Your death, your funeral. I can't think about it, avoiding you is easier." She grabs my head forcing me to meet her eyes, "Shouldn't your eyes be glowing? You're using your powers."

"Another illusion. Makes it easier to keep the illusion hidden. If my eyes are glowing, it's a dead give away. It's become a habit. You can't be around me without thinking of my death, right? So let's pull the good ones forward, tuck it away." I see gold surrounding the edges of my vision before I see memories flying through my mind. It's almost like how people would describe their life flashing before their eyes. Except instead of my whole life, it's all the good memories we have. Hanging out at Topanga's, at the school, all of the good times we had rushed through my eyes. I smile, most of them involving Kirstin dancing, singing, and being an all-around dork.

The pictures slowly fade out as I'm pulled back to see Kirstin standing there smiling. Her eyes were glowing gold now, the veins on my skin, where her other hand was sitting, were all gold. She laughs brightly as her eyes fade back to blue, my arm following suit. She looks dopey now, her eyes meeting mine, "Better now?"

"Yeah, I... I think so." I laugh as she begins to giggle at me. In a moment of adrenaline, I pull her in, pressing my lips against hers. She quickly kisses back, moving her hands to the back of my neck. I don't know how long the kiss lasts before she's shoving me against the wall, pushing herself back in the process.

I open my eyes slowly, to find her with her eyes open, wide, confused, and staring at me. Her hand was on her lips, breathing heavily, "What... the hell... was that?"

I smile slightly, "I believe they call it a kiss. Was that your first kiss?"

"No!" Lie. My smile grows brighter, watching as she slides down the wall onto the floor, closing her eyes and leaning her head back, "I hate your stupid powers. Why the hell would you kiss me?"

"Because you're beautiful, powerful, and your personality is amazing. Plus, your lips look really soft, I was wondering if they were. For future reference, they're really soft." I smile as her eyes go wide. She shoots up off the ground, moving to punch me in the arm.

"This isn't happening, okay. You are going to walk away and act like this never happened. I'm gonna, have to convince Mason to drop this." He stares at her incredulously, "God, I can hear him laughing now. He's gonna swear up and down he knew it."

"Is it really that bad that I kissed you?" I lean against the wall, the perfect picture in my mind slowly crumbling, my smile fading.

"Yes! No! I don't know! Okay, I don't know. I mean, I wasn't really planning on having a relationship. Not that I don't like you, I just..."

"You're just busy right now. You're not looking right now because everything is busy, I get that. I do, but I mean, I'm in just as deep as you are. Would it really be that bad if we dated?" I lean forward slightly, catching her hand as she turns to walk away.

"I'm not looking right now? Ryder, I'm not looking at all! Hunting is a full-time thing, it's always hectic. I was never looking for a relationship, never will be! It takes all the relationships you have and turns them into a game of Jenga. Why do you think Sam left all of his long-term girlfriends?"

Wait... "I thought his first long-term girlfriend ended up dead?" I laugh at her expression, quietly saving that image for later. Definitely drawing that one.

"Not helping your case, Ry. I mean, Uncle De never even had a serious relationship last until he started dating Cas. I mean, there was Lisa. But that was literally based on a one-night stand, and he left her with no memory of him." She jerks her arm back, leaning against the wall. The one made out of the illusion. Of course, she can lean on it. That shit hurts.

"What about Avery's mom? Wasn't she serious."

"Nope. One-night stand gone wrong. Avery's words, not mine. Of course, it could've been a lot worse. Could've got an STD or something." I catch her eyes, wiggling my eyebrows as she speaks. We look at each other for a moment, completely silent before this quiet space is full of our laughter. Not the little giggles that we usually end up with, but the full hunched over, stomach hurting, full body laughter.

By the time we stop, Kirstin sprawls herself out on the floor, leaving room for me next to her. I repeat the action. Staring up at the ceiling, I watch as constellations appear in place of the ceiling, "Is there any other reason besides hunting? Because you do know I'm a Shadowhunter right? I've been raised to do nearly the exact same thing as you."

She sits up turning until she's almost leaning over my body, "I don't... I don't know how to describe this..."

"Try your best. I'll keep an open mind."

"I can't... Okay, so you can clearly tell that you like me more than a friend, right?" At my confused nod, she continues, "I can't. I've never been able to... I mean I know what people tell me, but nothing really matches that. I mean, I know I like you and Mason differently, but I can't tell if it's because we're closer or if it's because I have romantic feelings for you. I mean, I'd be down to sleep with you and not with him. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm romantically involved, it just means... I think you're hot? Sexy? Handsome? I don't know which word to use, I've never actually said anything like that out loud without sarcasm in it."

I laugh, thinking for a moment, "Any will do. Though, I particularly like handsome. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy."

She snorts, "Ah, you're a fancy lady, huh? Do I have to take you to dinner first?" He laughter rings through our little domain as I sink into my thoughts. She lays back down as we fall into silence, her head laying on my arm.

"How about this? I pretend this never happened in front of everyone else if you agree to spend more time with me. It doesn't have to come to anything, hell it won't even be considered dates. I won't try to kiss you. I want you to make the decision for yourself. See if you can figure it out."

"And if I can't?" She says, so quiet, that I almost didn't hear her.

"Then tell me, and I'll help you figure it out." I wiggle my eyebrows again, turning the serious statement into a joke, hoping she can read between the lines, earning a giggle and a light tap to the shoulder. I sit up, carefully pulling my arm out from under her and easily getting to my feet, "Come on. People are probably wondering why they can't go through this hallway."

I stick my arm out to her. She grabs it, using me to pull herself up as she speaks, "Actually, depending on where they want to go, when they hit this section it'll teleport them to where they need to go. Need to go straight through it? It'll put them on the other side. Need to get into one of the rooms? It makes you think you're in front of the door before teleporting you through. I came up with this after the police stormed a warehouse we were in. Thought on the spot and expanded from there.

I roll my eyes as her phone rings, "What's next, creating a pocket out of time?" She holds up her finger, her face completely serious. She mutters agreements for a few moments before her face becomes one of pure shock. She hangs up the phone, grabbing my arm as the illusion drops. She takes off running, nearly dragging me behind her, "Woah, hey! What is so important?"

She spins around, still moving as fast as she can while facing the opposite direction, "Crowley's in the War Room. He refuses to explain anything until all of us are there. So put your Strawberry Not-So-Shortcake ass in gear."


	24. Chapter 24

_ Two Years Ago... _

_ Kirstin looks around the almost completely empty Compound. It used to be packed, full of the Avengers, her family. They deserted Tony, they deserted Avery, they deserted  _ her.  _ Just like everyone does. That's how it went for her. Her dad left, her mom left, her asshole grandfather was barely there in the first place, and he left too. Dean, Sam, and Cas have left her on multiple occasions, Tony too, even if they did always come back. Avery skipped town already, even though she was supposed to stay for another month before going home, but she has a summer job she couldn't miss. Bobby left, Charlie left, Kevin left. Cap left her, Clint left her, Wanda left, Wilson left, and Vision has disappeared. Nat was back in Kansas and had vanished before she could sign the Accords. _

_ Kirstin drops to the ground curling up on herself, arms wrapping around her legs, pulling them close to her chest. They hurt Rhodes, they hurt Tony. Did they even think twice? She wished she didn't feel as hollow as she did. Why does everyone leave? Is the world just that cruel? Everything is crumbling, Tony can't seem to process anything, he's always down in the lab. Rhodes is... in recovery. _

_ She shouldn't feel sorry for herself, she wasn't anywhere near the fight, James was paralyzed, Tony had lost everybody; suck it up for Christ's sake, Kirstin. They had lost so much, what did she even lose? They obviously didn't care about her like she did them, so there was nothing more to it. Steve... Steve, who had been like another uncle to her, didn't care about her, none of them did. Clint, who taught her how to shoot a bow, Wanda who had been like the cool Aunt she had always wanted, Sam Wilson, who helped her in trying to communicate with others, it seemed like all of them cared, but apparently not enough. _

_ So there she sat, thinking about how little they must've cared, nitpicking every interaction they'd had. Feeling a loss that no fifteen year old should have to feel, trying to process what this meant. That's how Tony found her, too, when he and James showed up at the compound. Sitting, arms wrapped around her legs, face blank, lip trembling, but no tears in sight. _

_ "Hey, Kiddo. What... what are you doing down here?" Tony questions, attempting to sound comforting, but coming out slightly pained as he sinks to the floor next to his niece. She was the youngest of the family, but easily the strongest. Tony had broken down twice already behind closed doors and Avery had ended up a sobbing mess the night before she had to leave, but Kirstin. Kirstin, after the past month of everything happening- the Accords signing, Tony locking himself in the lab, everybody leaving- she hadn't cried once. He knew she hadn't, because he asked FRIDAY to tell him if, when, and where she was if she was ever to start crying. _

_ Avery was the type of person to want comfort, to willingly seek it, but not at first. She'll try to deal with it on her own, but if she knows she can't, she'll search for help. She easily opened up to Tony when she finally felt she couldn't handle it anymore. She wanted to get away, to get out of the Compound, to heal away from a place full of constant reminders, and there was no way Tony was going to stop her, telling Kirstin Avery took a job away from here to soften the blow. _

_ Kirstin, however, would keep everything to herself. She'd rather suffer in silence than concern anybody with the way she feels, and it honestly scared Tony. He was worried about her constantly because he could never tell what she was thinking; if she was hurting or perfectly happy. It hurt him to see this tiny teenage girl, to hear of all these traumas that never seemed to be solved, and worry that they could become pent-up problems for her, sooner rather than later, "They all left." _

_ Tony glances up at James, who shrugged slightly, watching the girl carefully but not exactly sure where she's going to go with this. Tony carefully chooses his words as he speaks, "Yeah, I guess they did. But I'm still here. All of your uncles are still here. Avery is still here." _

_ "No, they aren't. Avery left the first chance she got, you all are too busy saving the world to pay attention. When does the world stop needing saving, Tony?" She turns to look at him, looking about ready to cry. Tony couldn't ever remember seeing Kirstin cry. Not once. _

_ "I don't think it ever will, Kid. The world is full of nightmares that it needs to be saved from. We'll always be here to save it." That seemed to be the worse thing to say. Kirstin's emotional control seemed to just snap. She starts punching the ground, bursting into tears, screaming at the top of her lungs. _

_ "What about me? Who's here to save me from my nightmares? Who's here to tell me it's going to be okay? Who's there to tell me that what I'm feeling isn't selfish, that there's nothing wrong with feeling forgotten? Who is supposed to help me when everybody leaves me? It used to be Bobby, it used to be Charlie, it used to be Wilson. They are all gone." Her screams slowly fade into a whisper, "They all left." The tears continue streaming down her face as she slumps against Tony, who pulls her into his chest as another round of sobs rack through her body, his eyes shining with unshed tears. As he shares a look with his best friend. This broke her, and he'd be damned if they don't find a way to pick up the pieces. _

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Present Day

I come to a stop, seeing Crowley and two demon goons standing in a Devil's trap, Alec standing with his bow drawn, waiting for the word to release. Sam and Dean were currently on a hunt, trusting us to Alec and Magnus. Everybody else had made their way back to their respective New York home. The supers, except Peter, Tony, and Bruce were back at Stark Tower. Tony was out at the moment, catching up with Bruce and leaving us to our own devices. Ryder's family had gone back to New York or maybe Idris. Or they could have split up. Anyway, the only ones that stayed were Magnus, Alec, and their two kids.

"You've got to be bloody kidding me! I willingly put myself and my people into a Devil's trap and you still continue to threaten us! Bee, tell them to put their weapons down. They trust your judgment, right?" Crowley complains, using Avery's nickname. He has this weird thing for calling us animals. Sam is Moose, Dean is Squirrel, Avery is Bee, and mine is... unimportant.

"No can do Crowley. They barely know me. Gonna have to talk to Kirstin. Which is who we're waiting on. I should call her again." Avery reaches for her phone, facing the opposite direction as me.

"No need, Ava. I'm right here." I let go if Ryder's arm, maneuvering until I was standing next to her. "Info?"

"Crowley showed up wanting to speak to 'the denim-wrapped nightmares'. Told him they weren't here, said he'd settle talking to me. All he said is that it was important and he wanted you here either way. And don't call me Ava." Avery speaks quickly, keeping her eyes trained on Alec.

"Hmm... okay, Mary. Oh nevermind, we already have one of those. Avery it is. Anyway, alright Crowley. I'm here. Speak." He holds up his finger for a second.

"First, let us out. And get your oaf to put his weapons down. Then we'll talk." I sigh looking at the demons behind him.

"You get rid of your little puppets, then I'll think about telling him to put his weapon down. If they stay, they stay locked in that bitch and the weapons are trained the whole time. Either way, you're singing like Canary." He sighs, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. I'll send them away. Do as the Raven says, exactly. Down to the last word. I'm not planning to make her, nor the Winchesters my enemy. I prefer to live." I laugh as I nod for Avery to break the trap. As soon as she does the goons disappear. I look at Alec.

"You can drop the weapon, Alec," I mutter quietly, moving to stand next to him.

"You trust him? He's a  _ demon _ Kirstin. That's not someone you can trust." Alec talks to me as though I'm new to this, keeping his bow loaded and aiming directly at Crowley.

When I scoff, Crowley takes a step back, "You should probably think whatever you're about to do next over, Pet. From what I can tell, he seems like a good ally to have."

I sneer, "Oh, shut up, Crowley." I spin to face Alec, attempting to appear calm, "You don't speak to me as if I don't know what I'm doing. You have no idea who he is. If I was scared of him, I would have been dead ages ago. Maybe try taking a step back, Lightwood. This isn't your oh-so-precious Institute. If you have a problem with how things are run here, you know where the door is. If you want me to trust you, maybe start with trusting me a little bit, okay?" I turn back to face Crowley, seeing Alec lower his bow out of the corner of my eye, sliding the arrow into his quiver. I wait for his arm to lower before quickly moving to look at Crowley when he begins to speak. Well, yell is more accurate.

"Maybe I should come back at another time, like when you pull your heads out of your asses and realize that I should be dead!" Crowley snaps moving forward. I see Alec's hand quickly jump back to his quiver, his hand ready on an arrow. I snort, taking a step forward.

"Oh, I think Alec could make that a reality if you want. I know you're supposed to be dead Crowley. I figured you'd take your dramatic route, drag it out as long as possible, as per usual. Something must really be wrong, so I'll bite. How are you alive?"

"Kirstin, I would almost be touched with how well you knew me if I didn't know that you've been taught to study people your whole life." He turns to look back at the doorway, "I'd be careful, Kid, she's good at what she does. Pulls every scrap of information she can out of you and leave you to the Hellhounds. Trust me, I know."

"Crowley." I state, a firmer voice than before, talking slower too, "How are you alive?"

He sighed, "Always a party-pooper, Pet. Months ago, I was in the Empty. Obviously, I was asleep like everything else there. Until a dreadfully high pitched squeal, I believe you would call it feedback, woke me up. Woke many of us up. It wasn't that hard to get the entity of the Empty to let us out. It appears to have a low tolerance to noise. I am not exactly sure what caused this,  _ odd _ occurrence. I figured,  _ hmm _ , what causes most odd occurrences in my lifetime? Your uncles and your ragtag group of bothersome hunters. Figured I'd investigate." I pause for a second, thinking through what he just said.

"You're complaining about being alive. And your first reaction to being alive is to track down a team of hunters? Are you suicidal?" Magnus asks. He sounds joking but his face doesn't twitch as he speaks. I think that just makes it more terrifying than anger would.

"Not suicidal, smart. As I said, others got out as well. If they're smart, they'll go after the people who killed them. Now, I know you can handle most of them, but one. It took a War to defeat him and he still could barely be defeated. If he comes for who I think he's going to come for, you're all screwed. We're all screwed."

"Wait, I think I know what caused the noise. What if the Empty was opened up, to let someone new in, but that person was brought back right before being taken. Could that, per-say, send a trigger through the Empty. Almost like an alarm saying,  _ 'Someone got out without permission'  _ or something?" When silence erupts in the room, I'm immediately scoffing.

"I think I've warned you all fair enough. Something evil is coming, be aware, stay safe, and leave me alone." Crowley smirks moving to disappear. I raise a questioning eyebrow, moving to grab a special bottle of whiskey, pouring a glass. Crowley stops, moving to reach out and grab it, so I pull my arm back, giving him a knowing look. "Information first, whiskey later."

"How about whiskey now, information now? I quite like that idea better." He reaches out for the whiskey, but I take a step back, a teasing smile on my face.

"You know how this works, so let's skip the cat and mouse, you tell me everything I want to hear. Could that have caused the sound, yes or no? Who is it we should be worried about, a straight answer, no run around? Any other information we need to know, it needs to be given, right here, right now." He clenches his jaw, debating the situation. I hear the bow be knocked slowly. I spit out my words out harshly, my eyes never leaving Crowley, "Put the  _ god damned  _ bow down, Alec." I hear Magnus whisper something to Alec, who puts the arrow back.

Crowley smirks that awful smirk he gives to his subjects, "Wow, Pet. You really know the way to my heart. Doubtful though, probably the wrong brand." I nod my head slightly, a cue my friends and family have learned quite well. Especially around iffy allies.

Avery hands me the bottle, the signature Winchester smirk/smile on her face. It's always on the borderline in between the two. Crowley was the  _ only  _ person the others let me handle by myself. Crowley, while usually acting pissed off or like he has somewhere better to be with my uncles, had taken a, very creepy, very  _ odd _ liking to me. From calling me nicknames only people close to you, not in a friend way, would call you to straight up stating he preferred my company over my cousin and uncles. I'm pretty sure it has to do with my power, but I refuse to ask. Why not use any advantage we can get, wherever we can get it? "Glencraig, aged thirty years. I know your tricks, Crowley. Tell me what you know, I'll give you the glass, maybe two if your good, and then you'll be on your way."

Crowley sighs, "And if I don't?"

I set the glass down moving closer and letting my eyes flash their gold color, "You know what happens when your  _ 'Pet' _ gets angry." I spit the nickname as though it's poison.

He pauses, an unknown emotion flashing through his eyes, one that is almost never seen there, "It's... possible that your theory could be true, very likely actually. It's never been done before, pulling people out of the Empty,  _ especially  _ as they're being pulled in. As for the name, I'm not exactly sure. He goes by many."

I go to hand him the glass, as he stands a little too close for comfort. I only pull my arm away slightly as I speak, "Give me the ones you know and I'll give you one of our bottles. No games, no questions, you can take it and leave. The second I find out your hurting someone. No more truce. That includes killing angels. You make deals, you stick to willing people, and you keep your ass in Hell. The only exception is if we call upon you. Got it?"

"Gonna peck my eyes out if I don't? Sick Samantha on me?" My eyes flash gold again and he quickly backpedals, "Jonathan. Maybe Sebastian. Last name Morgenstern. That's all I know. Craig, please."

"Good Crowley." I joke quietly, handing him the bottle and the glass.

He grabs it easily, seeming to relax as he takes them from me, "Excellent job of defeating your uncle, by the way. I've heard quite a lot underground. Take care." He vanishes. I spin around, walking up to Alec.

"I don't care who you are, I don't care if you're just trying to help, do that with any other demon. When Crowley's here, you shut up and take a step back. He isn't easy to get information out of, I'm the only one capable of getting it out of him, okay. You guys talking distracts him, makes him realize that he doesn't want to be here. It throws me off my game." Alec takes a step towards me, getting close enough that I can feel his breath.

"You do not tell me what to do. We were left here and told to keep you safe until they got back. A random demon shows up, requesting your uncles, and especially you. Even after he found out they weren't here, he kept demanding you. Leaving you to deal with him yourself is not protecting you." He snaps harshly.

"I don't need protection. Crowley wouldn't hurt me. He's a little obsessed, yes, but he's never hurt me before and wouldn't start now. Even then, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I don't need anyone's protection, especially not yours." I nearly growl, pushing him backward slightly. A whooshing sound rings through the room as Alec talks over it.

"You weren't saying that when we saved you from Lucifer. Everybody says that until their injured, or someone they love is injured due to their negligence. I don't care if you think you can protect yourself, you probably can't. I'm not letting you get hurt, I don't care if I barely know you, even if you weren't my nephew's girlfriend."

I take a step back, spinning to face Ryder, "Why does everybody assume I'm your girlfriend? Jeez, we are just friends." My voice comes to a regular level, exaggerated annoyance in my voice, "I swear, between you and Mason... Why can a girl not be single when they have guy friends?" I whine, snorting at the expression on Alec's face. I sigh quietly, turning to face him, "Look, I get why you do it, okay you've made it clear you protect your own. My uncles are the same way, so are my cousins. Even your nephew was tense back there. But you've got to understand, Lightwood. Crowley, he's not a normal demon. We tried a cure on him, long story I don't want to get into, but it made him a little more human. He's attached to my family and me, hell he even died to save my uncle's lives. He may be a demon, he's done some bad things, but he's our guy on the inside and we have to work a certain way to get him to talk. Before I did this, it was deals. Very bad deals that should never have been made. This is easier, okay. So stay tense, that's good, he's a little unpredictable, but do not  _ ever  _ draw your weapon on him after I tell you not to."

Avery laughs, moving to throw her arm over my shoulder, "Come on, Jack invited us to go out with Ryder, Mason and him."

I smile at the adults, more specifically the ones who came through the portal while Alec and I were arguing, "Have fun. Don't die. I don't need that on my conscious."

As I leave the room I hear Alec turn to Jace, "We need to talk."


	25. 24

Ryder’s P.O.V.- _ Later that night. _

“I don't think we should go out,” Jack states quietly, peeking around a doorway to see the adults arguing. Tony was gone yet again, taking Peter back to New York. Bruce decided to go with, saying that if he finds anything in the data he'd taken from the computer he'd contact us.

I let out a sigh, turning to face the rest of the group, “I guess he's right. I'm sorry buddy, I really wanted to take you out tonight.”

He smiles, “Don't be sorry. I would much rather watch a movie with Mason. Like a date. Does that sound good?” He asks Mason, his eyeshadow, which I'm pretty sure he borrowed from my uncle, glittering in the light.

“Definitely. Maybe we all could have little dates. I mean, two dates and whatever Kirstin and Ryder are going to do. Jack and I watch a movie, you guys do you. See you in the morning, Asshats.” Mason jokes, tugging on Jack's sleeve slightly. Avery and Andi don't say anything as they head in the opposite direction.

I turn around again, seeing Kirstin leaning against the door, dressed in a normal outfit for her, a flannel pulled over a tank top and black jeans. She had her shoes, which she colored herself, on her feet, “You wanna listen to this some more, or go do something.”

Her eyebrows furrow for a moment, holding her finger up for a second before sighing, “They have more people in there. We’re probably gonna talk about what Crowley told us in the morning. It’s clearly awful news, that your uncle is alive. I mean, he was awful, from what I heard.”

“Come on. We can freak out in the morning. I believe I was promised to spend time with you.” I hold out my hand, waiting for her to take it. She slowly grabs it before being pulled into my chest, earning a hushed giggle.

“Alright, alright. Grab your art stuff and meet me in my room in ten minutes, I’m gonna change.” I roll my eyes, a smile on my face so she knows I’m joking.

“You’re such a girl. Changing two times in a row.” She pushes my head, taking off running down the hallway.

“Ten minutes!”

#

As promised ten minutes later, Kirstin was standing in a long guys shirt, and shorts on. She had most of the shirt pulled back into a hair tie to make it look like it fit, so it took me a second to figure out that it was mine. She was wearing my shirt. I think I finally figured out why I love that so much. Without thinking I lean down and kiss her softly, letting my hand rest gently on her cheek by shifting the stuff in my hands to one arm.

She's laughing when I pull back, gesturing for me to come inside. “I thought you weren't going to kiss me?” She closes the door, facing it as she speaks. Turning around and walking toward her desk, she drags a chair from a vanity that was covered in pictures..

I sit next to.her, setting my stuff out on the opposite end as her, “I tried. I didn't kiss you when I saw you in that cute outfit earlier. I just couldn't help myself right now. I mean, you're wearing my shirt. And I'm about ninety-nine percent sure you aren't wearing a bra under it.” She smiles down at her sketchbook, eyes lighting up as she closes it, passing it to me.

“Wanna trade? You look through mine I look through yours? And nope, no bra. Does that bother you? I can put one on, you'll just have to step out for a minute.” I hand her my art book as she asks the first question, dropping my head back as I think of the fact that the only thing between me and her naked chest is the thin fabric of my shirt.

I groan quietly into the night air, “That does a lot of things to me, but bothering is not one of them.” She laughs before opening my book, looking through the sketches. I already knew that most of the first ones are of Livvy, there are a few of Ty and the rest of the Blackthorn clan. Their names were written on the bottom corner of the back side, along with the dates.

I silently open her book, most of it filled with dark pictures. The first few are sweet, a drawing of Dean smiling in the front seat of the Impala, Sam next to him and Avery in the back. There was a picture book-marking the page, a picture of the scene on the Polaroid picture. It was obviously from the camera I had used the other night, the Polaroid that was now resting on the desk. An idea pops into my head as I slowly slide my hand towards the camera.

I pull it up while she’s looking through my work, snapping a photo that makes her look, for lack of better words, angelic. She was just beginning to look up at me without moving her head, looking up at the camera through her lashes, a smile on her face and a slight blush on her cheeks. Instead of talking about the photo, she just carefully takes the camera away, moving it out of my reach before smiling and turning my book around, “Is this her? The girl you dated who…”

“Passed away? You can say the words, Kirstin, it's been three years. It still stings but isn't nearly as excruciating as it was before. You helped a lot with that, you know. Always being there for me, in any way I needed.”

“She was my cousin, right?” I nod, “Must have a thing for Blackthorns, Herondale.”

I laugh, “Can you blame me? The Blackthorn women definitely got the looks in the family. Their personalities are all their own though. Based on different experiences and upbringings. There are so many unique features in all of the Blackthorns.” I pause sifting through everything I know, “You're like a perfect mix between all of them. You love science like Ty, you have Livia’s eyes and her bravery, you have Julian’s love for art, Dru’s love for scary things, and hell you have Tavvy’s childlike enthusiasm. And he's like ten so there's a lot of that.”

“Whatever, weirdo. Stop sneaking pictures and comparing me to my family before I start thinking you're stalking me and them.” She looks through the books again, so I turn to look through hers. While the first four pictures had been of her family, Cas, and Nat, the rest was slowly getting darker. Drawings of monsters like vampires, the werewolves, hell even the Djinn. Then I end up finding one of the most recent drawings. Thanos, standing in a garden. The garden is drenched in blood, bodies scattered everywhere as he smiles, it would look carefree on anybody else, but in this picture, it looks nothing but sinister. In his glove, there were the six stones of different colors, all of them appearing to shine.

“What’s this?” I turn to show her what I was looking at.

“I forgot that was in there. Umm, his face had been keeping me up, so I figured I'd draw it, see if that helps. It did, a little bit but I still feel…” she trails off, looking uneasy to continue.

“Hey, it's okay. I mean he can't hurt us, he's dead. And the stones are with Tony getting dealt with properly.”

“I'm not scared he's going to hurt us. I'm not, I know he's dead. I'm… I've never felt so powerless,  _ hopeless _ , even when I had watched my uncles get hurt on hunts before I had my powers. Even though there was so much power surging through us, I felt as if I was a spec next to him. He was gigantic, yeah, but that's not what I mean. I... I mean just the idea of Dean being dead throws me into a funk but seeing him  _ and  _ Cas dead? That's pretty close to one of my worst fears. If the rest of my family had… If they had died too, I wouldn't have been able to function. They're like my life force, I thrive when I know they're okay and crash and burn when I don't.”

“And you figured drawing him would help stop the feeling of hopelessness?”

She clears throat, shaking her head a few times before continuing, “Yeah. Yeah, it did, to a point. So was being able to take down Michael and Lucifer, to save my family. But it's still there, eating at me. It kind of sucks. Anyways, I think we've some enough of that tonight. I will be right back and then we can draw some? I mean, I kinda got sidetracked but that's definitely what you and I are going to do.”

I look down at the drawing one last time as she leaves the room, as I formulate my plan. I switch our books back, sketching the idea on a page. I turn the page over right as Kirstin walks in. She doesn’t ask about it, just begins to draw and talk about random things, avoiding the subject of the Titan we stopped together.

#

I walk up to Magnus, able to catch him relatively alone. He was having a conversation with a playing Max, “You and your brother are gonna come home with us. You can’t stay here.”

“But it’s fun here! They let me run around everywhere as long as people are there!” The little blue boy whines, setting his toys down.

“Yeah, but we talked to the boys that live here. There meeting us and their friends there.” He leans down to be able to talk face to face.

“Is Avery coming?” He questions, nearly bouncing where he stands. Magnus laughs, nodding. The little warlock makes a noise of excitement, spinning and running out of the room. I laugh alerting Magnus of my presence. He stands to his full height, groaning slightly.

“Too old for this, Uncle Magnus?” I laugh at the unamused look he sends me.

“You calling me Uncle certainly makes it feel that way. You’ve grown up a lot since you were at our house last.” I look at the ground, pulling the page out of my pocket.

“Yeah, being killed and brought back by the Devil can definitely do that. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.”

Nodding he turns to pack up his books, setting them in a bag that he didn’t have when he came here, “Or course. Most people do, Cupcake. I’m easily one of the oldest things in this room.”

“I’m pretty sure they have the first blade locked up in one of these rooms. Anyway, it’s actually a favor. I was wondering if you knew someone who could have a piece of jewelry made.” He spins around, raising an eyebrow. I smile at his sparkly makeup, leave it to Magnus to look his best at all times, even when he’s probably going to be spending most of his day by himself. Or with Alec, but they’re married, so he’s obviously seen him without makeup on.

“Finally taking an interest in looking amazing, Cupcake?” I laugh, as he makes a gesture, magic flaring from his fingertips before a weird order form appears, “I’m joking. Very few besides me who can pull off my look. Your friend, Jack, definitely pulls off the makeup look, though. What do you need? Rings? A necklace? Bracelet? What do you plan on giving to Kirstin?”

“How did-” He holds his finger up, which is followed by a flat look. I laugh before handing him the drawing and the picture I took, “I want to make this for Kirstin. Using the colors of the stones in the pictures. The only problem is it would have to be specially made and I have no idea how to do that. I figured you might.”

He smiles examining the picture, a small smile on his face. “Of course. This drawing is beautiful. Both of them actually. Your as good as your mother is, that’s for sure. Kirstin’s is definitely better though.” He carefully folds my drawing back up, making an envelope appear, sliding the picture and it in before throwing it into the air. It disappears in a burst of flames.

“It was a rough sketch, hers had time put into it. Thanks. Kirstin would probably say thanks too if she heard you.” I pause for a second looking around. I step forward before I continue, “So Jonathan is back? Do we have a plan or…?”

He lets out a grunt as he thinks, “It would probably be better if we discuss this with everybody here, Cupcake. But… Between you and me, your father and the Winchester brothers are thinking about releasing the Heavenly Fire into an angel sword.” He mutters the next part quietly, stepping toward me.

“What are the chances the blade will continuously hold the fire without melting?”

Magnus goes to reply when I hear footsteps, “In my opinion, I’d say a seventy percent chance it even takes. A twenty percent chance that it won’t melt as it’s happening or soon after. I, personally, already have a plan to solve that. I just need to be there when the transfer goes down.” Kirstin smiles, coming to stand next to Magnus. “I assume that was already planned anyway?”

Magnus laughs, looking over at her, “Quite the eavesdropper, are we, Kitten?”

“It’s not eavesdropping if I have no control over it. I heard Ryder asking about the plan from three rooms down and had to add my two cents.”

“Yes, you are coming. Jace, Clary, Ryder, you and I. Alec is staying with the children and the Institute, along with Isabelle and Simon.” 

  
  
  



	26. 25

Kirstin’s P.O.V.-  _ Two Days later… _

“Why are we doing this before we even know where he is?” Dean asks, turning to talk to the redhead next to him. We were standing in the Institute library, discussing the Heavenly Fire plan.

“Crowley’s facts have been checked, and so far they all seem pretty accurate. This is more of a better safe than sorry plan. There is no real need for acting on it until we’re certain Crowley was telling the truth” Jace explains, moving to check a tablet.

“If you give us a picture we can put an A.P.B. out on him. In New York and a few other states. We have a few cop friends. We’re actually going to visit her later today.” I smile. Rose had been ecstatic to see Mason and I. She’s going to lose her shit when she finds out about him bringing me back, but it’ll be worth it. Give me some peace of mind, especially after seeing the other her dead.

“Sometimes I think you’d wish she was your mother.” I glare at Dean’s comment, “Just sayin’.”

I jump up onto the table, picking up a blade and examining it, “Nah, I prefer Rose alive. Wouldn’t be able to do that if she were my mom.” Dean and Sam quickly make up excuses to not be here, Andi, Avery, and Jack proceed to do the same. They just ditched me with these people! One stupid comment sends everybody running

“Well… That’s dark. I surely doubt that whatever happened to your mom would happen to your friend.” Magnus says, actually sounding sincere as he rests his hand on my shoulder. I shrug it off before explaining.

“No, it would’ve. Our mothers, if we’re birthed by mortal women, die during childbirth. Well, they actually progressively get worse while pregnant, then die during childbirth. It’s too much strain on their bodies. I’m not sure if Nephilim could survive if they have a child with a normal angel, but Amelia didn’t stand a chance against a spawn of an Archangel.”

Simon laughs, turning to look at Izzy then looking to me, “You realize you just referred to yourself as a spawn, right?”

“Why do you call your parents by their first names?” Alec asks softly, carefully watching my face. I look down, my face morphing to a frown. I force a smile on my face, trying to laugh this off.  _ Giggle, act like you don’t care. _

“One question at a time! Yes, I realize I called myself a spawn, but I’ve been called much worse by Michael and his brothers and sisters in arms. I call them by their names because I never met them. A family is made by loyalty, not blood. My mother tried to kill me multiple times in the womb because of Michael. Michael’s just a bag of dicks, now excuse me while I pretend to care about what Avery says about paparazzi.” I jump down, moving to leave the room.

Alec grabs my shoulder, “No one leaves the Institute without one of us with them. Where are you going?”

“Greenwich Village. Gotta make a stop in two places. One to get two teenage girls off my back, another to not get shot by Mason’s mom.”

“Did she threaten to shoot you if I didn’t visit?” I nod. Mason laughs, throwing his arm over my shoulder as Alec draws his hand back. “Damn, she told me she’d throw me in the river. She needs to correlate her threats.”

I turn back to the group of Shadowhunters, “Alright, I know Ryder is going. He wants the girls off his back probably as much as we do. Who’s joining our little Scooby Gang?”Alec sighs, glaring at Magnus, who offered Jace and him as soon as I finished my sentence.

#

The door of Riley’s house is swung open by Riley’s little brother, “Hey Auggie. Where’s Riley? Better yet, where are your parents?”

He groans, an over-exaggerated sound, “Why don’t you use the window like the rest of them?”

I move quickly, picking him up easily and walking through the living room at the same time. I shake him around a little bit, earning that amazing childish laughter. I love making people laugh, it makes me feel a little better, “Because I’ve gotta check on my favorite Super-Spy August Matthews. Alright,” I set him on the living room coffee table, bending my knees a little so we’re the same height, “tell me stuff, Super-Spy.”

“Well, Riley and Maya have been arguing over whether or not Maya is going to college. She got accepted at some place because of some art piece. It’s in New York, but I guess it costs a lot of money. Riley has a job so she can pay for her’s. Momma’s workin’ at home most days, Dad’s teaching summer school, and you’re late for dinner by ten years.” He nearly yells that last part, turning to Mason and Ryder after, “Yell at her, she’s been bad!”

“Hey, those boys listen to me, not the other way around! Sorry, I missed dinner, I was helping Iron Man and the Avengers save this world, and  _ another one _ .” I send a glance up to Topanga, putting on my best apologetic face. She smiles, slightly waving her hand as a sign not to worry about it.

“Iron Man  _ and  _ the Avengers! Oh my Cheesecake! Did you see Scarlet Witch?”

“I  _ did! _ And she was awesome and brave and very powerful! And I would love to tell you more, but Maya will take my tongue shirt away if I don’t talk to her soon.” He yelps, jumping off the table and shoving me back toward Riley’s room.

“Not the tongue shirt! It matches mine, you can’t let her take it!” I laugh. He leaves me in front of the door before stopping the Parabatai standing behind us, “I’m watching’ you!” Then he’s running out the door, telling his Mom about how I saw Scarlet Witch.

“God, I love that kid.” I fling the door open, running in and jumping on the girl on the bed, “Blinky the Nun, I’m home!” She pushes me off the bed, watching as I hit the ground before sticking her head off the edge.

“Are you okay?” Her doe eyes are filled with concern she watches me. I lean up catching her leg and dragging her down with me, “Peaches!”

“I gotcha, Honey,” Maya says from somewhere to the left, appearing and pulling us both to our feet.

“Short-Stack!” I smile, laughing as she snarls before shooting her awful name back.

“Cheesy!” I bear hug her, causing the five foot five girl to nearly topple over. The heels she was wearing made her look about five eight, but she was still made her look small to our five foot nine and five foot ten frames. Riley was the tallest, followed by me, then Maya. The boys were taller than us, which was still kind of nice. Lucas was an inch taller than Riley. Ryder was three inches taller than me, and Mason was a fucking giant at six foot three.

“I still can’t believe you told her my nickname for her reminded you of Mac’n Cheese. That was the worst class of my life, listen to you two whisper bicker for twenty minutes until you both got sent out of class. That was actually kind of fun too, and I didn’t have to listen to Spanish class, so I guess that’s a plus.” Mason moves to hug Maya. That was funny to watch. Imagine a giraffe trying to hug a small pony. A small pony in pointy boots.

I begin to lose focus of the conversation as a sinking feeling begins in my gut. While Jack had been able to see random bits of future, I was only able to feel them. I feel when something bad is going to happen, but can never actually figure out when. I don't know if it's a hunter thing or a Nephilim thing or maybe just a Kirstin thing.

“... It's definitely good to see you. As much as we want to hang out, Rose wants to see Mason and Kirstin. We’ve got to go.

Ryder wraps his arm around me, dragging me toward the door. He leads me all the way to the sidewalk, everybody who came with us, trailing behind. “How long was I spacing?’

“Umm, not long. Maybe ten minutes.” He offers his arm, linking our elbows together, Mason moving to the other side of me. We walk two blocks quickly, not once glancing back at Shadowhunters behind us.

#

“Rose!” I yell out as I bang on the front door for the fourth time. When there was no reply but a breaking sound, I fling the door open, breaking the lock in the process. It flies open to reveal a figure bursting out of the window, blonde hair gleaming in the light. Jace and Alec push me out of their way, running after it, Ryder and Mason moving to look in the rooms down the hallway to the left of us. I opt to move toward the kitchen and living room, following the trail of blood left on the floor. I find two lumps of people on the floor in the kitchen. “Mason! Ryder! There are people in here!” I carefully shift the first body slightly, Max Bane, a good witch who was friends with Sam and Dean, and Rose, checking for a pulse. None.  _ Damnit!  _ I stare at the body for a few moments before crawling over to the other body, Rose Hathaway herself. I do the same thing, this time finding a pulse. I quickly move her, checking her over.

“What do you got?” Ryder questions. I almost ask where Mason is until he appears next to me, checking her pulse. I check if she has any injuries. Her head was gushing blood, her hands bruised like she put up a good fight. I pull off my over shirt, leaving me in my tank top, placing it over the bleeding on her head, keeping pressure as I continue to examine her

“Well, she doesn't seem to be too injured. No broken bones, maybe a bit banged up, definitely a head blow.” I take Mason’s hand placing it on top of the shirt, hoping I can move over to Max. Instead of going for that, he leaves my hand on there, moving to place his hand on her forehead. I feel a wave go through me as he begins to concentrate, forcing the power out of him. I pull the shirt back to reveal a bloody forehead, but no wound in sight. I toss my shirt at him, standing up, “Get that wet and clean her face off, to be safe. You could have missed something and not realize it. Now, let’s take a look at him.” I pause for a second, pulling the darkness that spawned toward myself, all of it I possibly could.

“Whoever did this was strong, they busted a metal door while we were chasing them, that’s a clear indicator of that. We chased them as far as possible, but they got lost in the crowd. I called the others, they’re on their way. We have people at the Institute who can look over him, Kirstin. You don’t have to.” Jace enters the room smoothly, stepping around the door. It broke off its hinges when I kicked it in, so it was laying at an angle on the floor. I was in such a rush I didn’t even realize it did until I looked to see Alec surveying the room. Mason moves past me and the two Shadowhunters, Ryder helping him get his mom to the couch.

I bite my lip, staring at Max, “He was a friend. A Witch, actually. His sister, Alicia, and him met my uncles a few years ago. He helped Rose and them talk me out of trouble quite a few times. Now he’s dead too.” I turn to look at Alec, who entered the room, “You know he was a descendant of Magnus’ uncle right? He would always boast that he was related to  _ the  _ Magnus Bane. It got us off the hook with a lot of hunters, but uh... I have an idea. Did you see the person’s face? The one who broke in here?”

Alec shakes his head, Jace nowhere to be seen. He was probably with the boys, “No. We saw the back of their head, that was it. Hard to tell anything from that view.”

“Okay. Do me a favor, will you? On the other side of this wall, there is a desk. The second drawer has papers and the pencils are on top of the desk. I’m going to attempt to look through his memory, get his take before I dig through Rose's head.”

“Attempt?”

“It might not work. When the soul leaves the body, the memories shatter, especially the ones leading up to death. Depending on how long they’ve been dead, but the longer it is, the harder it is to get a clear grasp. A hit to the head could mess them up too. We know the soul left the body, we’re looking as close to his death as we possibly can. I need the supplies so I can draw as much of the scenes as I can before they leave my mind so… grab a lot.” I turn back to Max, carefully grabbing his head. I watch the veins in his face turn to gold, hearing the footsteps quickly moving away from me.

I’m sucked into his sight as soon as the veins finish spreading;

_ The door flings open, revealing Rose, a worried look on her face. A box is sitting in my, his, hands, a black aura around it. The auras in these are different than regular auras, work differently. Black surrounds intense or important objects and or memories. This box is probably important. _

_ Before anything is said between them, the memory skips, the door, it being locked. The couch is being shoved out of the way, moved back. _

_ We’re back by the door, unlocking it, conversing with an angered blonde man. His face is slightly blurred, the whole image is blurred, covered in red. Anger, pain. _

_ Pain shoots through my body, something hitting me harshly in the stomach. Another blow, to my ribs this time. I feel energy shoot through my hands, the blonde man flying backward. _

_ He’s in front of me again, searing pain as he hits me and hits me, and hits me, my screams ringing through the room. We’re in the kitchen now, everything is blurring together, fading to a gray color. The screams are still sounding. How? I’m dead there should be no screams. The world is fading away, darkness moving in quickly. But the screams are still there, the feeling of blood dripping down my face. Drip. Drip. Drip. More screaming. Pain, so much pain and- _

The image is yanked from my vision as I’m being pulled back from the body, into a hard chest, “Breathe! You need to breathe! You’re fine, you're alive, no one’s hurting you, breath! Think, you’re not there, you’re here with me, Alec! You’re not dying, you’re in the kitchen. Nobody is hurting you. Calm down,” My breathing starts to even out, the dripping feeling still there. He keeps me tight against his chest, speaking in a calming voice, “You’re okay. That’s it, just breath. In, out, like that yeah.” I stare down at Max, shooting over to grab the paper. I draw the man’s face to the best of my abilities, fast as I possibly can. I finish quickly, going to hand the paper to Alec, moving onto a picture of the box Max had. There is something about that box. Maybe I can find out.

“I need to look through his memories again, find out what’s in that box.” I move to grab his head again, pausing to spit something out of my mouth.  _ What the hell is dripping in my mouth? _

Mason and Alec move to stand in front of Max’s corpse, stopping me from reaching him, “No. You need to stop. Whatever you were doing, it hurt you. You never said that was a side-effect.”

I spit again, wincing as I look at Max, “You never asked. I never stayed in longer than to realize that the memories are shattered, never actually attempted looking through them.” Another spit, “I swear to god, what is dripping in my mouth?”

Mason carefully takes a step forward, “Kirstin, your nose is… for lack of better words, gushing blood. Come on, let's get you cleaned up.” He moves to grab my arm, pull me out of the room. I jerk back, letting out an annoyed sound.

“I don't have  _ time _ for that! I have to figure out what the box is about. Why it's so intense in his memory; if it's important.” I shove around them, only to be picked up by Alec, my feet easily leaving the floor. “You SON OF A BITCH! Put me down!” I move to grab his wrist, continuing to struggle in his arms. I forcefully attempt to move his wrist when a hand is taping my forehead, and I was fading quickly, the last thing I hear is an unfamiliar woman's voice.

“What the hell is going on here?”


	27. 26

Jack's P.O.V.- Present Day

I watch as Kirstin goes limp Alec's arms, waiting for her eyes to close, nodding for Mason to take her when they do. Before he can, Alec is easily resting her on a couch across from a wide-awake Rose and a blonde woman who keeps glancing at Mason. A black haired man with icy blue eyes stands in the doorway.  _ His eyes are so pretty.  _ Next to him was a man in a long leather coat, long brown hair to match.

“What the hell is going on here?” The blonde questions, more confused than angry, catching sight of the body on the floor, “Is that a dead body?”

Rose stands up, “Calm down, Lisa. Nobody here did it, there was an attack. Some psycho was after Max, killed him after knocking me out. Had a fucking brick. Took three hits from him to get me down, blocked the first one, the second one barely hit me and the third one, I don’t think I need to elaborate.” She gestures to Sam and Dean, “They’re friends, calm down and stand up. We need to move the couch.” Standing up, pulling Lisa up with her, she turned to the brothers, nodding toward the couch.

Sighing simultaneously, they move over to pick up the couch, moving to against the wall that connects to the kitchen wall setting it in front of the desk that sits there. Rose moves to the floor, pulling up the floorboard and pulling something out. I don’t get a chance to look because Kirstin’s voice makes me turn my head to look at her, “The next person that decides knocking me out is a good idea is getting fucking socked. Hi, Rose. You look a lot better without blood gushing from your head.”

Rose, who had put the board back stands up, tossing a box at Kirstin, who catches it with a yelp, “Thanks Kirstin, you'd look a lot better taking the spell off of that instead of trying to out-sass the Sass Queen. Get to work, chop-chop. Sam, Dean, Comrade, we’re going to go give Max a hunter’s burial out back. Oh, you too Sparky, I don’t have a lighter on me.”

The black-haired man rolls his eyes, “I see you haven’t changed one bit, Rosie. Still got guys hanging on your every word, still a total bitch.”

“Hanging off her every word?” Sam laughs as Dean speaks, “Nah, we’re the only one who knows what a hunter’s burial is. Trust me, if I really wanted to get with Rose, I wouldn’t be the one chasing.” Kirstin giggles, watching the guy Rose called Comrade carefully. She stands putting a grossed out face on before she speaks.

“I mean, I would almost be down with that, except I don’t need one cousin dating the other, no matter if they're from two completely different sides of the family. It’s just weird.” I laugh looking over at Mason who does a really, terrified smile, looking at me with wide eyes. One glance at him makes me laugh harder, earning a spike of laughter throughout the room.

When I finally calm down, Rose is gone, Sam and Dean moving toward the door, ‘Sparky’ standing next to them and the other guy behind them. He was the first one to leave though, brushing past them easily and quickly, Sam and Dean went next, the black-haired guy trailing behind slightly. Kirstin is focusing on the box, eyes glowing gold as a harsh force-field-like light appears around it. I watch as she pushes harder, causing a shake from the box, then a blast that sends her flying over the couch.

Lisa and the black haired guy move to help her up, only to stop when the box just floats in mid-air, staring in an uncomfortable gaze. Kirstin bounces up from behind the couch, cheering as she hurdles over it, snatching the box, eyes fading to her normal blue as she grabs it. Magnus and Alec appear from the kitchen, “What was the commotion about?” Magnus’ eyes look a little red like he was maybe crying, speaking with concern. Kirstin easily bounced over to him, looking proud of herself.

“I got the box open. Now I don’t have to look in his head to see what’s inside. See why it’s important.” I stop her before she opens it.

“We should wait for everybody. We don’t know what’s in there.” She groans, setting the box on the coffee table, watching ‘Sparky’ about to leave. She laughs, catching his attention.

“You know you don’t have to go out there, right? She just doesn’t want you and him talking to Mason. My uncles have lighters on them at all times. What’s your name? Unless you want me to call you Sparky?”

“It’s Christian. Christian Ozera. This is-” He gestures to the blonde woman next to him.

“Queen Vasilisa Dragomir. You two are Moroi royalty. You control fire and you,” She points a finger at her, wiggling a finger, “control Spirit. Which is good, I want to talk to you.”

“Kirstin-” Mason and I say at the same time, stepping toward her. Lisa smiles a small, almost happy looking smile.

“Your Spirit partner and your…?” Lisa begins softly, looking towards us before looking at Kirstin again.

“My cousin. Do you mind if I ask you about some stuff?” She gestures between Mason and me. Lisa laughs, looking at Mason.

“As long as he’s willing to talk. You guys are a team now, it would be better if you guys made a decision together.” They catch glances, seeming to communicate with each other. I look over at Lisa.

“How do you know Rose?” I ask while they do… whatever it is they are doing.

“We were best friends. She was actually my Shadow-kissed partner. Our bond broke nearly twenty years ago after I brought her back a second time. I haven’t… haven’t seen her in a while, she left a few months later. We still don’t know why.”

Kirstin snorts from across the room, “I can give you a reason.” Mason laughs, shaking his head.

“Me. Obviously. I’m a Dhampir that has Moroi powers, my father was another Dhampir. Probably that guy that just left here.” Lisa starts to shake her head, making a noise of disapproval, “My name is Mason Belikov. Tell me that’s not his last name, I’ll believe you.”

“Mason spilling the tea over here.” Kirstin jokes moving to tug on Magnus’ arm, whispering in his ear. He grabs Alec’s hand and the three move to the kitchen. I stand awkwardly in the corner looking at the ground.  _ This is going to be a long night.  _

  
  



	28. 27

Ryder’s P.O.V.- Present Day  
I walk back in from the hallway, my parents following behind me as they examine the drawing of the killer. It was definitely who they thought it was. I walk in to find Lisa and her guy friend talking to Mason, Kirstin and my uncles nowhere to be seen. Rose and the three guys she took with her were right behind us, “I was kind of expecting an explosion. That is the only thing that could make this matter worse.”  
“Does the spell being broken and blasting me back count for anything? It resembled an explosion.” I shoot Kirstin an unimpressed look. It quickly morphs into concern as I notice the blood on her face.  
“Your nose is still bleeding. I figured that would heal up by now.” I step forward, moving to touch her cheek. She gives me a death glare as I touch her face slightly like she was delicate.  
“I just felt Max die as though I was the one dying and overused my powers in one fell swoop. Connecting to dead people's brains is draining, plus all the other stuff I've been doing this week. My nose bleeding is probably the best outcome of that situation.”  
“What’s the worse?” I question letting my hand drop. She shrugs moving to grab a box from the coffee table plopping onto one of the couches.  
“Well, for most magical beings, power overuse can lead to comas. Your body begins drawing power from your life force instead of your power itself. It’s painful, and most warlocks that do it often don’t wake up.” Magnus interrupts, “You opening that box probably didn’t help matters.”  
“Oh, Bah humbug! I’m fine, the impromptu nap was enough. Let’s open this box, see what Max was willing to die for.” Rose moves over to Kirstin’s side as the teenager speaks, sitting in the seat next to her. Lisa was watching her every movement, eyes not angry, but focused.  
I come to stand on Kirstin’s other side, perching on the edge of the armrest on her side of the couch. A perfect vantage point to read over her shoulder. She slowly opens the medium sized box to reveal knick knack and what looked like files. Rose’s voice is harsh as she speaks, picking up a lock of hair that was in there, “He died for these? He protected these with his life? Why the hell would he do that?”  
Kirstin grabs the hair, ignoring her question, so I answer for her, “A lot of things can be done to people using their DNA. tracking, voodoo, and many other types of spells. He wasn’t protecting the hair, he was protecting the owner of the hair.”  
“Owners,” Kirstin mumbles, pulling out two more. Both of these were blonde, but different colors. The first one had a red tint to it, like mine. It can’t be mine.  
“Okay, but why? What would the killer want with the people he was protecting?” Mason asks, sitting in between his mom and Kirstin, slightly running a set of the locks he picks up over Kirstin’s arm.  
She pulls a few more items out, which seem almost random, before pulling out three nearly overflowing files. My eyebrows furrow as I lean over and grab a photo flipping it so I see the actual picture. It was a Polaroid of a young girl, maybe seventeen, smiling and leaning against what looks like the Impala. This is getting too creepy to be a coincidence, one most hit and I’m telling everyone- Kirstin’s voice rings out loudly, busting through my thought process, “Holy shit.” The file she opened had multiple pictures of her, her criminal record, some results of tests that were run on her DNA, and multiple CDs and flash drives. Another page lists her known powers, and known relatives, and correlating them with other magical artifacts throughout history. She moves to open the others. One was of Jack and the other was of me.  
“How the hell did he get all this? I mean getting even a quarter of this information would take at least a year to get without some type of connection to people high up in doctor’s fields, science fields, and a police officer. And some of these tests are… extensive, nearly too extensive to be done without reason and prior knowledge from the test subjects.” Alec speaks in a slightly upset, slightly intrigued voice as he examines the files.  
“Doctors…” I begin.  
“He was friends with Alex, she works at a hospital. So does Catarina Loss, and she would be closer.” Kirstin answers.  
“... Scientists...”  
“Half of the people in New York could be scientists, but the only one that would’ve had enough of our DNA to test like this would be Bruce.”  
“...and the police officer.” I look over at Rose as I speak.  
“I gave him the criminal records, but nothing else. He said he was helping you with a case and needed to be prepared.” Kirstin sighs resting her head in her hands for a moment before standing up, closing all of the files. She turns dropping mine into my mother’s hands, glancing up at Magnus.  
“You two should go talk to Catarina in the morning. Show her the file, tell her there is two more. You can give her my name if need be, but try to keep Jack out of it.” She turns dropping Jack’s file in Dean’s waiting hands.  
“I’ll try to get ahold of Donna and Jody, find a place where we can meet up, tell her to bring Claire and Alex. Need to get the angel sword from Claire anyway.” Kirstin laughs.  
“Yeah, tell Barbie I said Hi. Take Jace with you, extra backup. Definitely Jack too.”  
“She’s gonna be pissed when she finds out you called her that. Probably impress that you ditched us.” Dean says, opening the file.  
“Twice,” Sam adds, easily looking over his brother’s shoulder.  
She rolls her eyes, keeping her file close to her chest, “I’m gonna talk to Bruce. See if he gave these to Max or if someone else did. Mase is apparently coming too.”  
“Me too,” I add my voice firm, no room for any arguments. Kirstin rolls her eyes again, though the fond smile gave her away. She turns to Rose.  
“I guess that leaves me as a chaperone,” Alec says quietly, his voice blank.  
“Can I get, like, two favors? Maybe three. The first one needs to be used right this second. No getting angry.” Rose eyes her carefully, her response lacking any emotion.  
“No promises.”  
“Well, okay. Probably the best I’ll get. I need your help with some Shadow Kissed research, Mason brought me back and our bond is different from the way you and Lisa described yours. I was also hoping you’d put an APB out on this guy. And another guy, I guess.” She looks over at my parents as she speaks.  
“They’re the same person, Kirstin. Why do you think everybody is so much tenser than before?” I add, rubbing my eyes slightly. God, I haven’t slept in two weeks. How does Kirstin last for a month?  
“Anyway, I don’t care what your friends do. I mean like, help or don’t help. Fall off a bridge or don’t. Actually, just don’t. I feel like that would hurt and would require a lot of paperwork for the police and Royal Court.” I snort slightly, placing my hand on her back and lightly pushing her toward the door, “Oh, I guess I’m leaving now. Bye, Bitches.”


	29. 28

Kirstin’s P.O.V.- The Next Morning…

I groan as Mason drags me to Topanga’s. I agreed to call and have Happy pick me up instead of just showing up in front of the Tower. Not because I want to, but because we have a group of five, two of which can teleport, two don’t want to, and the other doesn’t actively care. It messes with Mason’s stomach and Alec doesn’t want to try for the simple reason of liking normal modes of transportation. Andi has never actually been teleported but is cool either way. She decided to tag along last minute, something about wanting to spend time with Mason and I a little more, even if it means running around the city to find out why Max was hiding facts about me from a psychopath. We agreed to Topanga’s because that’s where Happy would always pick me up. And because Mason wanted some food, but mostly the first reason.

When we get there, the doors are still locked, not open until eight. Did I mention it was seven in the morning? The lights are on and Katy is inside, but it’s obvious that they aren’t open yet. I smile as Andi knocks on the door, shivering a little in the cool spring air. I laugh as she catches her mom’s attention, but Katy purposely takes her time to get to the door. When it’s opened, however, Andi is enveloped in a bear hug, “Hey there Baby Girl!” She pulls away smiling and moving to let everybody in. She stops me and Mason, giving him a hug, “You’re still as tall as ever, Mason. God, how have you changed so much? You were barely up to my waist the first time I met you.”

“It was probably puberty.” I joke, laughing as she releases him, moving to pull me in a hug.

“Then what’s your excuse? You look so different!” She pulls away, examining me before pulling me into another hug, this one tighter than before.

“I have no idea what you are talking about. I saw you, like, six months ago and I haven’t changed anything about myself. Maybe your eyes are changing.”

She laughs, moving around the counter, kissing Andi’s cheek on the way by, pausing once to give Ryder a light hug too, “You don’t have to make drastic changes to look different, Kirstin. You look more mature, like the weight of the world is resting on your shoulders. Now, come sit here and let me give you ice cream for breakfast, because we need to get rid of it all in a week, and we have a lot. While you're at it, why don’t you introduce me to your new friend?” I shake my head at her offer, easily declining.

“Actually that’s my Uncle Alec. Some family things are going on and my parents decided it would be better if we had a… chaperone, per say. An adult in the family that can keep an eye on us in case something happens.”

Katy disappears for a moment, returning with ice cream cones carefully set in weirdly twisted holsters that keep them from falling over. She sets them down, wiping her hands on a towel before reaching to shake Alec’s hand. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Alec. I should probably warn you that Kirstin is really good at ditching people, so I wouldn’t let her and your nephew leave your sight. She used to have bodyguards, but she always ditched them before making it to my house to pick Andi up. That was usually the first place they looked.”

I snort, “I remember that. I one time told a bodyguard I had to use the bathroom and sent Shawn to distract them. God, your husband is amazing. He’s just so cool to go along with all the plans Andi, Mason, and I would come up with. Maybe we should say hi at some point, go to your house. He would probably be happy, and Maya would love that.”

“So would I.” Katy smiles, kissing her daughter’s cheek again as Andi reaches to grab the ice cream cones. I grab two from her, handing the one to Mason, another to Ryder as Katy offers Alec some. At his refusal, she turns to talk to us again, “I’m so happy to see you, but I must admit, you are the last people I thought would be knocking on the door.”

“I know. We actually can’t stay long. Stark is sending a car to pick us up, but I found out we were coming here and figured I would see you like I’ve been promising to do for the past two months. Kirstin and I decided we could come back later, maybe you could see if you could talk Maya and Shawn into coming down here? I don’t think they’d be cool if all of us showed up at the house.”

Ryder laughs, “I doubt you could fit all of us in your house.” Andi hits his arm, nearly making him drop the ice cream, while Katy nods, laughing.

“That’s probably really true. I’ll see if I can get them to come down in, what four hours? Gives you time to talk to Tony and come back. How is he? I saw the news reports of the battle and the rest of the Avengers coming back. Everything alright?”

I force a smile on my face as a wave of emotions washes over me, the hopelessness seeming to grow as the battle replays in my mind, “Everything is great. From what I know, Tony forgave Steve and Bucky, for the most part, I’m pretty sure Steve and he are back together, or slowly working toward getting back together. Vision and Wanda are… I think they’re dating and I’m not sure if I should be weirded out, amused, or happy for them. I kinda feel a little of each. Nat and Sam are still together, so there’s that. She was actually planning on heading back to Kansas tomorrow, she’s in for a treat when she finds out everyone’s in New York.” My phone goes off as I finish. I smile when I see that I have two messages.

Grumpy: I’m here.

Strawberry: I think my uncle is warming up to you.

“Kirstin?” Andi’s voice causes me to look up, laughing slightly. I catch her blue eyes, nodding towards the door.

“Bye, Katy. It was amazing to see you again. I’m gonna go talk to Happy real quick. Thanks for the ice cream and I will attempt to see you later. Have a great day.” I stand up moving toward the door, realizing someone was following me. I turn to see Alec standing there. Without saying anything, I open the door, letting him out in front of me, closing it carefully as I step out.

It was silent as we move up the stairs toward the road, “You don’t actually need to speak to Happy, do you?”

I laugh slightly, looking at the ground before looking up at him, “No actually. I just hate watching Andi say goodbye to her mom. I hate that she thinks it could be the last time she sees her every time she says goodbye. I hate knowing that her fears are  _ reasonable _ in the lifestyle we live in.” It was quiet for a moment as I think. “I'm sorry, by the way. About yelling at you, back in the Bunker. It's just, my uncles they're really overprotective. They act like I don't know what I'm doing like I'm some princess that needs to be locked up in a tower. I know I'm the baby, I know I'm always going to be the broken little six year old they took in. I'm the one who wants this life. Avery chose it after a year of college when she realized she couldn't afford another year. It was her last resort, but I don't get a first resort or second. They treat me like I'm an infant because I'm related to them, and others hunters do it because I'm young and I'm a girl. Then you, someone who fought when they were young, someone who  _ grew up _ fighting, who knows powerful women who can kick ass, coddles me in nearly the same way. I couldn't take it. I'm constantly having to prove myself, and I realize getting in your face probably didn't help.”

He laughs, meeting my eyes. I can see why Magnus loves him when he's happy, his energy lights up the whole room, “I actually found the fact that you had the courage to stand up to me impressive. Especially knowing who I am, what I've done, and what I could do to you. It shows you’re courageous. And I have to admit, the way you handled yourself in front of Crowley was smart. Bribing him with alcohol? Why can't all demons be as easy to win over?”

“Well, I  _ think _ Crowley is scared of me. I _ know _ he has an obsession with me. I'm powerful, he's infatuated with power, and has this weird bond with my uncles. He calls himself Dean's bestie. It's cute. I mean it's weird but cute. It's also hilarious when Cas is around because he gets all jealous, even though ninety-nine percent of the time, Dean doesn't like Crowley's company. Anyway, back to the subject. If that's not why you don't like me, why don't you? And don't even lie and say you do.”

He turns looking back towards the staircase we've slowly wandered away from, “I think you're stringing Ryder along, even if you don't realize it. I'm not particularly fond of the idea of you breaking his heart because when Herondales fall, they fall hard. Harder than normal Shadowhunters." At my confused look, he adds, "Mundanes have a tendency to be indecisive about love, Shadowhunters don't really get the chance. We die young, more often than not. We don't have time for the mundane way of falling in and out of love so easily. I just don't want Ryder to get hurt. Plus, I was raised to think hunters were nothing but brutes.”

I laugh slightly, thinking back to John, then to the hunters that shot my uncles, “Some of them are. Most are better than that though. And as for the Ryder thing… Hunters are mostly the opposite. Or maybe it's just a Winchester thing. We try so hard not to fall in love, because falling in love while hunting? Makes the relationship feel like Jenga. It's unstable and you never know when it could topple. I wasn't raised around that type of love, I don't know what it would look like, feel like. Hell, I didn't even have friends until Andi and Mason. I… I know Ryder is infatuated with me, but I don't know what that's supposed to feel like. I don't want to lead him on, I don't exactly know what leading him on would be. I told him the truth, and he seemed to take it well. Am I leading him on?” A burst of horror runs through me as I think of ways I could've hurt Ryder without realizing it.  _ I never wanted to hurt anyone, especially him... _

Alec stares at me for a moment, almost looking confused, “You weren't raised around love? At all?”

I look at the ground, “I mean there were always Sam and Dean. Familial love and all. I mean, I lived with my grandpa until I was five, which sucked. He was cold and distant and very neglectful. You’d think most hunters would be, with the things they see. I get it. Sam was in a serious relationship maybe twice in my lifetime; one was before I met him. Dean… nearly the same circumstances. Umm, two serious relationships, maybe one actually. I’m not actually sure if Lisa and Dean were together. It was weird, he made her forget everything about their relationship to protect her. And then there’s Cas. So… not exactly? What, you’re gonna tell me Shadowhunter parents are super affectionate?”

He laughs a dull, hollow laugh, looking behind us, “Not really. Especially considering my dad was cheating on my mom. Guess not all Shadowhunters love like Shadowhunters  _ 'normally' _ do, huh?”

I laugh, turning as I hear Andi’s heels clicking. Her eyes were red and watery. She was trying not to cry.  _ I wish I was able to do that normally.  _ I realize the boys are still by the door, talking to Katy.

“Hey, it's okay Andi. We’ll see her later today. I promise, even if I can’t go, you will.” She shakes her head.

“That’s not why I’m upset. I mean, yeah, it makes me upset. But that’s not why I’m crying. That just sounds awful, I mean…” instead of continuing her sentence she pulls me in for a hug, burying her head in my shoulder. My eyes go wide as I stumble backward from the force of her hug.  _ This is… odd. _

“Why are you hugging me? It’s not that bad. There are people out there whose parents beat them, that’s so much worse.”

“Yeah, yeah it is. But that’s still really sad. Not understanding how love works, that’s got to be lonely.” I choose to roll my eyes, not showing how her words affected me.  _ How is it lonely? It’s not like I don’t love my family. They’re my family, of course I love them. _

“No, it isn’t. Come on, Happy is waiting for us.” I walk away, feeling both of their sympathetic stares following me to the car.


	30. 29

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Present Day

I lean in Happy's window after everybody climbs out of the limo into the garage of Avengers tower, "Thanks Happy. It's nice to see you again. I hope you and Pepper are still good."

"We're going strong, thanks, Kirstin. Tell Tony she says hello. She would come over, but she wants to give everyone time to adjust to being back before she shows up." I laugh, kissing Happy's cheek. I turn around afterword, linking arms with Mason as we walk. Alec shoots me a dirty look. I look at Mason, then Ryder, then back to Alec.  _ Oh... He thinks I... Oh. _

**_He thinks we're dating, huh?_** I jump, forgetting he could talk in my mind. I hear his internal laughter ring through my mind. _D_ ** _on't worry, I forget too. Then I feel you're buried angst shoving into my happy personality and I remember I can feel everything you do. Why shove it so far down? Tell somebody, you'll feel better._** _Shut up, nobody asked you. Wait... if you can feel my emotions, then you can tell the difference between-_ ** _Your feelings for me and your feelings for Ryder? Yeah, I can. Your head over heels for him._** **_At least, that's what it feels like to me. It's how I feel when I think about Jack. Try comparing them for yourself._** I let myself connect to his emotions, going through the memories of Jack he has in my head. _They definitely feel the same._ ** _Is that a good thing or a bad thing?_** _I don't know._ ** _I give you full permission to tell this dude I'm gay if it means he'll quit glaring at me like I'm trying to steal Ryder's girlfriend._** _Thank god, I'm really getting uncomfortable._

I pull Mason over to Alec, slowing him down before talking to him, "You look pissed."

"I'm not." _He sounds pissed._ ** _His aura is beautiful, take a peek._** I close my eyes, letting them flutter open to look from Mason's view. It was colorful, bright. _Oh my god. It's gorgeous._ ** _I know._** I push my mind out of his, coming back into my own eyes.

"Okay. Yeah, but just so you know, everything I said was true. I would never purposefully lead Ryder on. And I'm not a brute. Or more like I'm not just a brute. Anyway, shit is going to get weird when we get inside but just go with it. Like, I honestly have no idea what we're going to walk in on. Just a fair warning." He nods, looking at Ryder then me.

**_Awkward._** _Shut up, Asshole. I_ ** _'m not talking, I'm thinking._** _No wonder it smells like fire in here._ ** _Shut up._** _I'm not talking, I'm thinking._ ** _Piss off ya wanker._** I laugh, looking at Mason and shaking my head. We all step into the elevator. Alec moves like he's going to press a button, quickly realizing there aren't any, "How do you know where you're going if there aren't any buttons. How do you even go?"

"Hey F.R.I.?" I call out, glancing upward  **_Yes, Burger?_ ** _ Fuck off. _

"Yes, Ms. Black?" FRIDAY'S voice rings out around us.

"Where's Bruce?" I smile over at Alec, making sure the file is still tucked away in the bag I had brought with us.

"I believe he is with Mr. Stark in his lab. Is that where you wish to go?"

"Yes, please. Thanks, FRIDAY."

"My pleasure, Ms. Black. Mr. Stark will be ecstatic to know you are back." The doors slide shut as we begin to ascend.

"Hey, FRIDAY? Do you think I could get Tony to change your name to something more normal? Maybe Anna or something? How about Gideon, like from that TV show? Legends of Tomorrow?" I joke as I rock on my heels in the nearly silent elevator. Ryder snorts softly.

"I can't wrap my mind around why you watch those. You spend half of your time with superheroes and the other half hunting monsters. Is that not exciting enough?"

"I actually do it so I can find inaccuracies. It a lot more fun than it sounds, especially when you're trained by two hunters, Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow. And Cas. Can't forget Cassie. Why'd we leave him at the Bunker?"

"Why did we leave Avery at the Bunker? They had to stay behind for a while, they were helping Bobby with something. She texted me last night, by the way. They're heading up tomorrow." Andi intercepts the conversation as we arrive at Tony's.

"Cool. Can you ask her to bring my battery project, I feel like I should probably stop dragging Alec across New York because I have the inability to stay in one place too long." I move around Dum-E, who was picking up a piece of scrap metal. I pat it on the- well, it's basically just a giant arm, so there isn't really a head- top part of its arm is more accurate, "Hey, Dum-E. You still getting yelled at on the daily?" I knew it wouldn't reply, so I turn to walk farther in the room. I don't bother checking to see if they are following me, able to hear the footsteps.

"Kirstin, hey." I walk into the room to see Bruce working on the computer, Tony messing with the hologram in front of him. It looked like schematics for another Iron Man suit. This one looks different though. Oh, maybe he's working on upgrading Peter's suit. Either way, it's a suit. I think I've made my point. The computer chair Bruce was sitting on was faced toward the door.

"Hey, Bruce. Did you ever talk to a guy named Max Bane? He might've mentioned knowing Sam, Dean, and me?"

"Uh, no. No, I didn't. I've actually only been talking to Tony and Thor more often than not, sometimes the others but no one really outside the team. Why?" He closes out of whatever he was working on, giving me nearly his full attention. I glance over at Ryder, who nods slightly.

"Okay. Did you ever finish the blood tests? Whatever actual test you were performing on them."

"Yes actually. I was wondering when you were going to come asking about that. Every time I tried to get a hold of you it would say I dialed wrong or that the number was disconnected. I figured you'd gotten a new number since I left." My eyes widen as I pull out my Stark phone.

"Oh yeah. I finally got rid of the god-awful flip phone I had. I assume your number is the same?" At his nod, I quickly opened my messaging app, sending him a text that simply stated my name before tucking my phone in my pocket, "Can we see whatever you did? I don't know what you would do to test blood. I'm not into the science as much as the actual building things. I only know what I need to, so you might have to dumb it down a bit." I move to stand behind him as he pulls the stuff up on the computer.

"FRIDAY, pull Bruce's blood tests from the computer to the holographic images so everyone can see it. God, we're standing in my lab and I don't even get a Hello from my own niece. And my soon to be niece. Is this what heartbreak feels like?" Tony's voice causes me to smile. He moves around the computers coming to hug me easily. This type of hug I can handle. It's more of a greeting than one of attempted comfort. Fewer emotions involved and more of a hello to a loved one thing. He pulls away, moving to Andi. He eyes Alec and Ryder warily as he jokes about Mason's height.  _ Maybe I should ask him about Steve _

"Kirstin wants to know if you and Steve are back together," Mason states bluntly. _You fucking Asshat!_ ** _You are very welcome._** _I'm going to murder your ugly ass._ ** _Bitch, you wish you were as hot as I am._** _Suck a dick._ ** _Every Tuesday._** _That mental image is disgusting._ I shudder as Mason laughs.

"Not that that is important, but yes. Let's look at the blood work."  _ Avoidance is key.  _ **_I now see the family resemblance._ ** _ Shut the fuck up.  _ **_We went over this downstairs, I-_ ** _ No one cares.  _ **_That statement is seriously inaccurate and makes it sound like there are multiple people besides us listening to this._ **

"So there wasn't much I could find that you probably don't already know. There is an unknown substance within the blood, we determined its angel blood due to the sample Cas gave us. Not exactly alike but closely related. They all react to the demon blood I tested it with, revert back to almost completely human blood, a light substance left behind. Two of them didn't react when I mixed them with human blood." Bruce explains.  _ Two? _

"Only two? What happened with the third?" I lean forward, examining the test results on the holograms. Yeah, none of it makes sense. I'll stick to mechanics.

"Adding a little of the blood to the human blood, it seemed nearly ineffective. Adding a large amount, however, turned both types of blood completely toxic. Depending on how much blood is transferred, it could kill someone."

"What happens if only a little is added? Does it do nothing?" Ryder questions, a true look of concern on his face.

"It changes in a way that doesn't appear toxic, but I can't find out what it would do to a person without testing it. And obviously I can't test it on anyone, we don't know what could happen. You saw how well testing something without proper knowledge worked for me last time. Plus, it could kill the person if we gave them too much."

"Whose blood is this anyway? Because I'd be more than willing to test it on me." I offer. Bruce nods slightly.

"I would have said no, but I guess it's good I don't have to. Or not good, all things considered. It's your blood that reacts that way."

"Oh, since we're breaking news at the moment, I have something to add. I'm the one that gave all the test results to Max. He told me he had a feeling something bad was about to happen and wanted to find out everything he could about you guys, to see if your powers could possibly help. Considering the last time he had a bad feeling about something was a month before we were fighting Thanos, I gave him what he wanted." Tony speaks quickly, rambling slightly. He does that a lot, I think its funny.

"Well, Max is dead now. He gave the files to Rose, we were trying to figure out what everything in them meant. Figured we'd stop by here first." I speak quickly, attempting to process both people's information at the same time.  **_Remind me to never ask you for a blood transfusion._ ** _ I don't know whether to laugh or cry at that statement, Mase.  _ **_You'll be okay, Kirstin. You're a little toxic, but that's what makes you amazing. It's what makes you different._ ** _ Wow, an inspirational quote and a joke within one sentence. You'd be good as a public speaking, Mase.  _ **_Why thank you, Darling._ **

"Can we test it on me?" Andi asks quietly. Ryder spins around to face her.

"Woah, hey. No way? You have no idea what it will do to you." He tells his friend.

"Yeah, no way. That blood isn't going anywhere near you." I agree, moving toward her.  **_Then you should probably back up._ ** _ Now is not the time to be a smartass, Mason.  _ **_Why not, Andi's already making the dumbass decisions, I should be allowed to make the smart ass remarks._ **

"Too late. I'm a consenting adult, so I can kind of do this no matter what you two say. If I die, at least I know I died on my own terms."

"Can't argue with that logic." I spit out sarcastically, turning towards Bruce, "You can't possibly be considering doing this."

"I mean, no offense Kirstin, but the people you know tend to have a track record of doing what they want even if everyone tells them not to. I don't think Andi is any different, and I would rather it be in a controlled environment than randomly all by herself." I pause for a second, nodding slightly.

"He's not wrong. You probably would find a way to do it either way." I relent, not in the mood to put up a fight.  _ Her life, her choices.  _ **_That's a better slogan than your body, your choice._ ** _ I don't need your sarcasm in my head right now Mason. Definitely not in the mood.  _ I growl under my breath turning to pull out two chairs.

"I don't like this idea. I'm supposed to keep you all safe, not let you put yourselves in danger." Alec speaks up from the far corner of the room. I swear, that guy seems to rather study our conversations than actively participate in them. Unless he decides we're doing something stupid, anyway.

"Don't care. My choice." I sigh, sitting in one chair, nodding to the other. Andi moves over, sitting on the chair next to me. I toss my book bag onto the ground next to me.

"So how much blood does it take to completely kill off the cells?" Tony asks, moving to stand next to Bruce, who began prepping some equipment. Oh, this is gonna be a bitch.

"Well, it took ten milliliters to kill a rat. A rat has about sixty-four milliliters of blood. Humans have a large range of blood configurations, but women have anywhere between eight to ten pints of blood depending on their size. I would say she has about eight ounces so I estimate that if I give her less than the one point two five pints she won't die, but it would still give bad side effects. Anything less than five milliliters didn't seem to harm the rat, but giving it more weakened it to a certain extreme, slowly progressing to the point of death if you gave it more." Bruce elaborates.  _ So five milliliters and under doesn't seem to have an effect on the rats, but five to nine will hurt it?  _ **_And ten and up will kill it._ **

"That means if you give her over ten fluid ounces of blood, even slightly, you could diminish her health. And we don't know what it does to her if we give her that amount or less?" Tony moves to grab a blood bag from a drawer.

"No, but we know there's no diminished health by whatever it causes. If anything is caused."

"I just came here to know how Max got the files. Now I'm gonna get exactly 10 fluid ounces drawn from me? Awesome. Totally a great way to spend the day." I joke putting my arm out so it could get sterilized and shot up. Andi makes a face at the needles.

"I just remembered how much I hate needles. This is gonna suck." She looks at me, making a face as Bruce cleans my arm, getting a needle set up. I look up at the ceiling as he sticks it in my arm. I turn to look at Ryder, "The thing about being a Nephilim isn't that you aren't made of cement of anything. Your skin can be broken, you can bleed, but it heals so quickly that it can never actually hurt you. Sure the needle is uncomfortable in my arm, but that's because my skin is trying to heal around it, plus the pain a normal person would feel. The blood is replenishing as it's leaving my body, which is why they could probably try to drain me all day with no result except a bloody room and a pissed of Nephilim. It's kind of amusing actually. We walk, talk, and- for all intents and purposes- act like humans until we're hurt, or we use our powers."

"I don't know if you are giving me a lesson or distracting yourself from the needle in your arm." Ryder jokes quietly, looking around the lab as he speaks. Dum-E, who has been doing god knows what up until now, nearly rams into Ryder as he zooms past, coming towards me. He stops in front of me, picking up my book bag. I groan, attempting to snatch it before he zooms off.

Just my luck, I miss as he zips away, moving to through my bag in the trash, "Woah, no. No Dum-E! Yo dumbass, give me the bag back or I'll sell you for scraps." Tony laughs, grabbing the bag as Dum-E drops it onto the floor. He picks it up, pulling out the files, telling FRIDAY to keep track of Andi's and my vitals.

#

I laugh as Andi giggles, messing with the air in front of her as though there was something there, "Come here, buddy. Fetch!" She throws a nonexistent ball across the room giggling, attempting to stand up, only to nearly collapse. Ryder catches her before she falls, hooking his arm around her waist. It was decided that we could take Andi home as long as we text them when the hallucination stops. We decided to skip over visiting Katy if this doesn't wear off in the next two hours. We are also apparently going to a bookstore in Manhattan to meet Jody and the family. Ryder says he knew it, that it was his grandfather's place. She left last night, apparently driving fast.

"I definitely think it's time to get a car." Ryder looks at me as I hook Andi's arm over my other shoulder, arm wrapping above his to help carry the loopy girl. He probably could have carried her on his own, or I could, except she won't stop squirming. I laugh, grabbing onto his arm as I adjust her for a moment.

"Yeah, Mason is working on hailing a taxi. Happy is off for the rest of the day." I look at his arm under mine, "One day, you'll have to teach me the runes. Maybe when we get back."

"I think the bookstore has a Gray Book. It's a book full of runes. Shadowhunters usually learn runes over the course of years because the human mind is very fragile. If you start to get a headache, you need to stop reading it. It can do some serious damage." I laugh as Andi stumbles over her heels. We were moving to the other side of the sidewalk, where Mason was talking with none other than Peter Parker, holding the taxi door open for us. I groan letting go of Andi, shifting her so she's sitting in the seat. I push her to the other end as she tries to squirm away, moving to climb back out.

Alec moves over to the front of the taxi, getting in the passenger seat. Mason easily slides into the car, pulling Andi to switch spots with him. I turn, hugging Peter before sliding in, opting to sit on Ryder's lap when he slides in next.

"Where to?" The driver asks when the door slams shut.

"Umm, Garroway Books in Manhattan." He nods before pulling onto the road.


	31. 30

Jack's P.O.V.- Present Day

I look through the shelves of the bookstore we were in, reading the titles of a few books before moving onto the next. I found a book that Avery would probably read, taking it off the shelf and moving to show it to Dean, "So you think Avery would read this?" I hand him the purple book.

He looks it over before reading the name out loud, " _ Beautiful Creatures?  _ Sounds like something she'd read." He reaches to grab his wallet when a voice rings through the room.

" _ 'Mortals. I envy you. You think you can change things. Stop the universe. Undo what was done long before you came along. You are such beautiful creatures.' _ " Kirstin smiles along with the quote, moving to grab the book as Ryder helps a slightly stumbling Andi sit down, "It's a good book, I read it for a book study. Ten out of ten would recommend. Avery would love it. Just be prepared to buy the rest of the series. They are addicting."

"I thought you don't read, Kirstin?" Ryder asks, the door closing as Mason and Alec appear.

"I read, I just don't read for the same reason Avery does. Or nearly as much. Are they here yet?" She glances around the store, giving a blank look to Andi's little giggles, looking around the room. She was talking about the jungle or something.

Dean looks around the room incredulously, his face blanks as the sarcasm drips into his voice, "Yeah, they're just hiding. No, they aren't here yet."

"I meant New York, Asshole. Are they in New York yet?"

"Yeah, they'll be here shortly. We're waiting on them and the others getting back from the Hospital, or wherever they went." While he was speaking, a red-headed woman comes down the stairs. Stopping when she saw Jace and Ryder.

"Ryder! Jace, what's going on?" She carefully glances at Dean. She smiles a tight smile when she sees him, "Dean Winchester. Your father send you for something?"

"No can do, Fray. He can't exactly send me anywhere. Been dead for almost twelve years now, actually." Dean states, eyes narrowing, his mouth twitching slightly like he wants to smile. I look at him, then Kirstin. At her confused look and slight shrug, I look between the two adults.

"You two know each other?" Kirstin smiles as she says this, raising her eyebrows, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Not like that, god Kirstin. Why is that your go-to assumption?" Dean shoots back. She gives him an unimpressed look as the woman laughs.

"Can you really blame her? She is talking about you after-all. You Winchesters are known for your... ways with women. No, it's not like that. I worked with John for a while. He needed help with a case. He tended to come to me when he needed help with research his friends couldn't figure out. You," she points to Kirstin, "must be the baby he had the last time I saw him. Kirstin, yeah? That's what he called you. I actually had my daughter babysit you for a while, while John was on a hunt." A man appears behind her, smiling as he kisses her cheek, carrying a box of books. Ryder looks at Kirstin, a huge smile on his face.

Within the months of living with us, he explained how he was actually born in 2009, but due to rapid aging, he looks as though he was born in 1999, so that explains the first comment out of his mouth, "You met my mom before my dad did. How you feel about that Kirstin?"

"God, you make it sound like I'm super old. Or that your mom is super old, like she's... I don't even know how old she is. Like late twenties, early thirties? Twenty-seven?" I laugh at her expression as she guesses her age.

"Twenty-seven this year. Good guess. You obviously don't remember me, you were maybe a year old when we babysit you. I'm Jocelyn Garroway. I really hope you aren't as much of a terror as you were last time we met." She sticks out her hand for Kirstin to shake. Kirstin easily taking it, turning beet red at the last statement.

I laugh, "Terror? Was she that bad?"

Jocelyn laughs, "By the Angel, she liked to move. A lot. One second I was trying to read to her, the next she was running around the apartment. It was amusing and awful. She liked painting, though. Not that I actually let her paint. She had gotten a hold of some of my paints and decided my wall needed a makeover."

"The worst part about that is I don't think I ever actually grew out of the painting things without permission stage. I painted murals in my best friend's room. It was pretty, I'd like to think they looked awesome. His mom, on the other hand, not so much."

Mason looks at her funny, "My mom loves those now. Hated them when you did it. Definitely worth it though."

The bell jingles as more people walk through the door. Jody and Donna were the first two to walk in, "Welcome to Garroway Books. Sorry, but we're actually closing in a few minutes due to family issues."

"They are with us," I speak calmly, waving at Jody slightly. Jody smiles easily moving toward us, stopping to rest her hand on Kirstin's shoulder, shooting her a smile before continuing to stand next to Dean. Donna follows closely, but instead of just standing next to him, she gives the brothers some hugs.

Everybody seems to migrate towards the tables in the back of the room. It seemed like a mix between a library and a bookstore. It was kind of cool. Kirstin hands the man who had the box of books previously a twenty dollar bill, nodding to the book I was holding. I examine it a little more flipping through the pages slowly, not exactly reading but just skimming the pages slightly.

I look at the group surrounding us. Jace, Alec, Jocelyn, the man who told Kirstin his name was Luke, The Winchester brothers, Jody, Donna, Kirstin, a really weird Andi, Ryder, Mason, and I. The bell for the door goes off as a group of people enter; Clary, Magnus, Izzy, Simon, Claire, and Patience.

Kirstin is instantly over by Claire, "Hey Patience. Sup Biker Barbie. Long time no hunting. How you been?"

Claire snickers, keeping a nearly blank look on her face, "You and Alex need to stop. I'm not a Barbie. And I've been hunting, just not near you guys. Maybe that'll be changing."

"Cas would love that." Kirstin moves to stand next to Ryder, leaning against him slightly as Claire and Patience move to the other side of her. The blonde girl rolls her eyes at the comment but shoots me a questioning glance at the action. Kirstin may stand a little close, but she never purposely leans on someone unless necessary.

Clary smiles at the blonde girl smiling towards them, "Hi. I'm Clary, you two are?"

"Agent Beatrice Quimby," Kirstin replies, attempting to keep a straight face. The key word is attempting. Her smile seems brighter than usual, which is good, but odd.

"At least I think about using aliases, Ms. Stark. I'm Claire Novak."

"It's Black, Bitch. And being a Stark is a pretty good excuse about not having to use aliases. Everybody knows who I am."

"I'm Patience Turner." The brown-eyed girl says quietly, sticking out her hand to shake. Her darker skin tone looks pretty when clashing with Clary's. I mean, she always looks pretty, but when she's standings so close to the pale redhead, her features seem to be more prominent, especially her eyes. They greatly differ from the other pairs around her. While hers are a deep brown the others are bright colors, green and blue the most prominent. It made her seem unique, and that's never a bad thing.

"Lovely to meet you two, I'm Magnus Bane. High Warlock of Brooklyn." Magnus intercepts the conversation, shaking the girls' hands. After everyone is introduced, we get down to business.

I hand Donna my file, Kirstin handing Jody hers silently, hanging the book bag on one of the many empty chairs. I'm too twitchy to sit, so I stand, rocking on my feet slightly. Kirstin comes over to watch Andi, see if whatever is going on with her has gotten better.  _ I'll have to ask what happened later. _

"Toxic blood? Couldn't that kill you?" Jody questions Kirstin as she flicks through the file.

"Actually, no. It's only poisonous when too much is mixed with the blood stream. If you divide that in half, or any less than half, this happens." She gestures to Andi, who looks around her like it's fascinating, "She thinks she's in a jungle. She thought she had a puppy earlier. It becomes a type of hallucinogen. If you give them over half of it, it slowly deteriorates their health and we think it might also cause hallucinations too. Don't exactly want to test the theory though. By the way, Tony gave Max the records of what Bruce discovered, not Bruce. He said he felt like something bad was coming."

"I didn't give Max any of this. Sorry to be a waste of time, but..." Jody trails off as she looks through the file.

"Same here. I haven't seen Max in quite a while." Donna adds, flipping through my file, "I should probably point out the hacking into the police department isn't as hard as one would think."

"Especially if you have Stark tec. I gave him some stuff last time I saw him, mostly because I broke his phone." Kirstin adds.

"How did you do that?" I look toward her as I speak, Mason coming up behind me and wrapping an arm around my waist.

"He thought I'd be funny to scare me. He ended up landing in a pool with a broken phone and a sprained wrist."

I nod slowly, "And I get a warning. I love favoritism."

"It was your birthday Jack-Ass."

"Ooh, nickname upgrade. We usually get Asshole. You got your name added." Mason jokes. Dean hits his side, giving him a look, "What? It's funny."

"So if the file was made because he thought something bad was coming, why give it to Rose?" Claire asks from next to Kirstin.

"Maybe he knew someone was after him. In his mind, when he saw the killer- Jonathan- he didn't seem to recognize him. No name popped up in his thoughts. So maybe he didn't know who was after the information, just knew someone was." Kirstin explains, causing the people around the table to glance at Jocelyn.

"Jonathan as in Sebastian? My son Jonathan?" Jocelyn looks to Clary who opens her mouth and closes it a few times.

"We didn't tell you because we weren't sure. We still aren't sure. The only proof we have is from Kirstin looking through Max's memories, and for all, we know she could have seen it wrong. We only saw a picture she drew, not the memories." Jace answers for her.

"She's telling the truth." Ryder defends her easily, moving toward his dad.

"You can't confirm that Ryder. No offense to Kirstin, but we have to be careful who we believe nowadays, especially if he's back."

"I can confirm it, I can force her to tell the truth if you don't want to go off my word. A new power I have-"

"Can all three of you do that?" Magnus questions from next to Alec and Simon.

"No. Only Ryder has the ability. It's kind of freaky, actually. You can never lie to him, he's like a super accurate human lie detector. We have each have a power that the other doesn't; his is lie detecting, mine is illusions, and Jack's is-"

"I can lend people my powers." I interrupt. Magnus seems intrigued by me, taking a step forward.

"Do you lose all use of them until given back?"

"No. I can give them to a lot of people at once, twenty while still fighting with my powers, thirty if I don't. It's draining but effective." I explain as Kirstin laughs.

"He used it during training once. Wasn't very effective then." I huff, leaning into Mason.  _ It worked well for a while, Ryder's just a jerk. A pretty jerk, if the way Kirstin acts around him is anything to go by, but a jerk. Just like Mason. Mason's a hot... Jerky-jerk-jerk who finds this funny. _

"That has nothing to do with this. Ryder's just..."

"Awesome, an amazing fighter, trained since he was a kid, adorable and distracting?" Ryder offers cheekily.

"Annoying, big-headed, nothing but an ego, and a strawberry looking asshat?" Kirstin offers also, leaning against him again.

"I was going to say good at fighting, but sure." I shrug, looking at the two.  _ Are they dating? They better not be dating. _

"Anyway, I can show you what I saw. It's not that hard. I have to touch your temple though. I've learned to get permission before I do it, I did it to Claire without warning once and she tried to break my wrist." Claire smiles proudly, looking at the ground. I laugh as Kirstin carefully walks toward Ryder's parents. She waits for their nods before carefully placing two fingers on their temples. Clary's eyes shift from their regular bright green to a glowing gold, Jace's already gold eyes begin to glow, the color brightening a few shades.

Magnus picks up our conversation, changing the subject to the Institute, "We have a few more people joining us at the Institute. Zara has gotten a hold of the L.A. Institute, so we offered the Blackthorns a place to stay. They got there after you left, and I figured you should know before you head back. Or before Kirstin and Jack head back since you seem determined to stay in the dingy motel."

"Might come to the Institute just to meet them. Always wondered what Amelia's other family was like." Sam says quietly, Dean nods, pursing his lips as Donna and Jody switch files. They seem enraptured by them. Kirstin removes her hands as Clary and Jace nod in agreement. She takes a step back, nearly falling when Donna speaks.

"Wow. Your criminal record is very colorful. Stealing, going to bars underage, assault-"

"There was no actual drinking involved in going to bars. A lot of pool, a lot of hustling, but no alcohol. And assault was because a son of a bitch was beating on a girl and I beat the shit out of him. And the stealing... yeah, that's pretty self-explanatory. At least I was never arrested for murder. Anyway, it is Sebastian. So any plans? I got Rose getting the A.P.B. out on him. It will make it easier for people to look out for him. What do we do?"

"Look for him, obviously. Keep as low of a profile as possible, don't inform the Clave until we have enough proof that doesn't involve you. The Clave doesn't know we know where you are, and I'd prefer to keep it that way." Clary answers, looking toward the group by the stacks of books, mainly Kirstin and Ryder.

"Keep all of your powers a secret from Clave members you don't know. Something seems off, the way they manifest in each of you. The powers themselves resemble a set up of powers that need not be messed with." Magnus adds, letting the others take over the conversation from there, opting to think loudly, but not speak a word.

"We should act like nothing's wrong, let him think we aren't onto him. Attempt to find him without sending him running for cover. Act like you normally would, be a little cautious, and never go out alone. Teams are harder to take out, especially if they're trained right. We should probably start teaching Kirstin and Jack about runes. They're part angel, her mom was a Shadowhunter, they should know how to use them." At everybody's agreement to his words, Jace moves to leave, holding the door open to let a few others out. I link arms with Mason moving to meet up with Kirstin. He stops me.

"Let her and Ryder hang out for a bit. We could hang out, maybe go do something. Or we could go back to the Institute and train? I want them to talk a bit. See how it turns out." I glare at Ryder for a moment, glancing at Mason and smiling.

"Let's go train. I could use all the help I can get."


	32. 31

Ryder’s P.O.V.- Present Day

When I set the Gray Book in front of Kirstin’s sitting from, her first response has me trying not to laugh. Her eyebrows furrow and her eyes narrow skeptical, “It’s green. Why is it called the Gray Book if it’s green?” My grandpa's laughter rings from in the shelves. They reopened the bookstore after everybody left, though we decided to stay here and look through the book.

I look at the cover for a second, pursing my lip as I think, “I, uh, I actually don’t know. Not really the most important thought at the moment.”

Nodding and looking around the room, she decides to bring up another topic, “Alright, but why do I need to be concerned about using runes? Don’t think I’d be able to handle myself without them?”

I snicker at the thought of Kirstin ever not being able to hold her own against somebody, “No. I mean they definitely work well for battles, but they have more uses than just that. It’s considered an honor to use runes. We don’t even know if your body can handle runes, some bodies can’t.”

“So why don’t we find out? The angelic rune is the first one you guys get right?” She leans forward as she asks, grabbing the book from my side of the table, flipping it open and looking at the pages, examining the runes and tracing them with her finger. I let my hand reach into my pocket, where the two steles sit. One belonged to me for as long as I remember, the other belonging to Livia for most of her life. Julian had given it to me last year, after finally going through Livvy’s things. He told me to do what I wanted with it, and I found a way to put it to good use instead of sitting in my drawer hidden under everything.

I pull it out of my pocket, examining it under the table, even though I’d see it a million times. It was an averagely sized stele, green with a vine-like design running from its adamas tip to the top of the stele. I run my hand over the stele, thinking about how often I would see Livvy admiring it. Julian had given it to her for her birthday, she had always had it on her, of course she did, that was kind of a given with steles.

Kirstin’s voice snaps me out of my thought, “The good thing about the annoying near-perfect memory is this. Being able to examine them for two minutes each and have them memorized, and know what they mean. Have you ever walked in on something and still can’t forget it?”

I laugh as I think, “My parents making out. How come the mark doesn’t suppress those type of traits? It suppresses most of the powers, but I’ve always been able to remember nearly everything I see. And I never got sick, even as a kid.”

Kirstin pauses for a moment, “Glad I wasn’t the only one. Never got sick, got hurt a lot though. I always healed-” I join her in speaking, talking at the same time as her,

“- a little quicker than normal people.”

“Yeah. Maybe it didn’t suppress everything. Not that hard to believe. It suppressed a lot of powers, that can put a strain on a lot of things.” She leans forward, smiling slightly, “I’m kind of concerned. What exactly makes you keep looking under the table? Gonna stab me?”

My lips twitch into an involuntary smile, “Actually, I figured we should probably rune you. Here.” I set the green stele on the table in front of her. She reaches for it slowly.

“This doesn’t look like your stele. I thought yours was blue. Had angel wings on top.” I nod along, pulling mine out and setting it on the table.

“That one’s yours now. It belonged to Livia, Julian figured I could make more use of it than he could. He couldn’t look at it without getting upset. I figured I’d do what he asked, make use of it. I also thought you’d like to have something of hers.”

She glances down at the stele, picking it up and attempting to hand it back to me, “I can’t take this from you, Ryder. You should keep it. For remembrance.”

“I have a lot of her things at the Institute already. You need a stele, this one is perfect for you. Go ahead, it doesn’t bite.” Hse slowly picks it up examining it. She grabs it like she would a brush, moving to unbutton her flannel. She pulls the shoulder off, revealing a spaghetti strap tank top and a scar. The scar was in the same shape as mine, a clear Enochian design. I smile as she pulls the strap away from her shoulder, carefully drawing the Angelic rune on her shoulder. She winces slightly when it first touches her skin, though is smiling brightly when she finishes.

I watch her warily, keeping my eyes on her face, studying it for even a slight flinch of pain. After a few minutes of nothing, I choose to glance over at the rune, my breath catching in my throat. The rune, that is normally black on the skin of Shadowhunters, is gold. A bright, obvious gold. She pulls her strap us fixing her flannel as her eyes stay blank.

“My runes definitely don’t do that. You definitely have more angel blood than me.” I laugh nervously.

“Is it bad?” She sounds concerned and amused at the same time. How can she always contradict herself? She looks soft and strong at the same time. She exudes strength, and it’s obvious she works out, but she doesn’t have bulging muscles. Everything about her seems to clash, no really good way to describe her.

“Nope. Not at all. It just means your runes are stronger. The only time runes have glowed like that is on the Angel Raziel himself.” I grab her right hand, pulling it forward and setting my left hand next to it, my stele laid flat on the table under my palm. “You see this rune? This goes on your dominant hand. It improves your sight. It also helps with weapons skills. This is usually the first rune we get, except for special cases. Mind if I put this on your hand?” I tap the eye-shaped rune, keeping my eyes on her as I speak.

“Why not? I got nothing to lose.” She jokes, looking slightly uncomfortable.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to if it makes you uncomfortable. Take this one step at a time, get it when you're ready.” I attempt to ease her uncomfortability, grabbing her hand in mine.

“I’m good. You can. I’m not uncomfortable about that. I was going to crack a joke about you having a third eye and got a really gross mental image. Like, having another eye on your hand getting stabbed. Yeah, you can totally give me the rune.” There was partial truth in her words. She was telling the truth about being okay with the rune, not what she was thinking about.  _ Hmm… Maybe I should ask? _

Instead of responding, I pull her arm a little closer to me, drawing the Voyance rune on her right hands, smiling as it comes out gold, “Now, you should be able to see through glamours easier.”

“Does it work on bullshit, because that would be awesome.” I snort at her, standing up and putting the Gray Book away. I move to her side of the table, pulling her to her feet and throwing my arm over her shoulder.

“Come on. We have one at the institute you can use.”

#

I plop in the chair in the library, smiling as Kirstin decides to sit on the table in front of me, crossing her legs and grabbing the book. I lean forward, resting my arms on her legs and using them to prop my head, “So… I overheard Mason saying he wanted you to talk to me. Anything… Anything in particular that needs to be said?”  _ Smooth, real smooth. _

She looks up from the green book, eyelashes fluttering, smiling at me, “Not that I can think of.” She closes the book, scooting to the edge of the table, letting her legs dangle. I move back as she does, this position putting my head slightly above chest level.

“You sure?” I smirk, a smirk that Emma had deemed the Herondale smirk. Apparently all three of us (wow, there's only three of us who are blood-related to the Herondale line. That’s a daunting thought, the Clave is probably happy I’m into sex and relationships and stuff, reproduction purposes and all.) have the same smirk, one that tilts up slightly more on one side.

“Not really. It’s more… Don’t move.” I do as she says, keeping my face tilted up towards her, not moving from my position. She runs her hands through my hair, pushing the slightly shaggy bangs away from my face, tugging my hair slightly. I bite my lip to hold back a groan. In the next second, she’s leaning forward carefully placing her lips on mine. I keep at her pace, not moving my lips until she begins to move hers. Her hands slide from the top of my hair to the back, playing with the hairs on the back of my neck.  _ Screw it… _

I push myself out of the chair, hearing it hit the ground with a thump. I pull her body closer to mine, swiping my tongue across her lip, and moving my grip to her hips, running my hands up and down her sides before sliding them up her body, letting one hand rest on her back, setting one on the table carefully.

When she opens up willingly, I deepened the kiss, not having to fight for dominance. I feel her other hand carefully rest on my chest, shaking slightly over the cotton fabric, playing with the edge of my leather jacket. I carefully move the arm that was still tangled in my hair, tangling our fingers together as I pull away for air.

She looks at our hands, bursting into giggles, “I thought I told you not to move?”

“Good thing I didn’t listen. That was amazing. Is there a reason why you kissed me? Like testing the waters or, like, something. I don’t- I mean-” She laughs again, cutting off my stuttering.

“All of the girls you’d bring around would talk about how smooth talking and charming you were, where did that go?”

I lick my lips slightly, letting my hand trail over her jaw, “Those girls weren’t as stunning as you.”

She makes an obviously fake thinking face, “I don’t know, the blonde one was kinda hot. Light blonde hair, blue eyes, nice body. Totally smoking. Looked nothing like me, that’s for sure.”

I narrow my eyes, trying to hold back a laugh, “I feel like your trying to tell me something.”

“I’ve got a thing for blondes? Probably because I’ve always wanted to be one. And I can admire girls because I’m comfortable in my sexuality. I- this isn’t going anywhere, you know that right? I just… I wanted to have a kiss on my own terms. This doesn’t mean anything. Nothing is going to change. You are… you just need to move on. Saying this is probably selfish, to kiss you and tell you to move on but-”

I lean forward, moving in for a peck that lasts longer than expected. I’m breathing a little heavier when I speak, “Not happening.”

“At least try! I don’t like feeling bad about knowing you like me and not doing anything about it. Go date Claire or something. Find a girl that knows how she feels, not someone who is just stringing you along because she doesn’t understand her feelings."

My mood instantly plummets, that’s a weird way to do things, and definitely not what I expected, instead of telling her how I don’t care if I had to wait for one year or three hundred years, I’d wait for her, I decide to pull a joke out, “Just testing the waters then. Okay. I’ll give you more time.”

“Stop. Ryder, you just need to move on, I’m not good for you. I’m not-” I pull her into a kiss, keeping my hands on her face. She doesn’t bother pushing me away but doesn’t respond like she did before.

“If this is what you mean by not liking her, I’m scared to see how you act when you do.” A familiar voice jokes from the doorway. I wince, leaning my head on her shoulder for a moment, pulling on an awkward smile. I turn to face the doorway, throwing my arms up in a welcoming gesture. He was leaning against the doorway, clearly having been there for a while

“Kit. Lovely to see you again. Where’s your cutie of a boyfriend?” Ty turns the corner into the room as I was speaking. He heads toward Kirstin, whose face was buried in her hands.  _ She’s probably bright red with that cute blush on her cheeks, _ “Yeah, that’s creepy watching me make out with her. Ever heard of privacy?”

He pretends to think as he walks into the room. Shaking his head and laughing he responds, “Nope, never heard of him. New foreign exchange student?”

“Haha. I’m laughing on the inside. Seriously, I don’t spy on you, you don’t spy on me. Especially when I’m making out with someone, that’s weird man.” I throw my arm over his shoulder as we walk towards the two raven-haired beauties sitting over by the table. Kirstin snickers randomly.

“Let him have his creepy ass fun. He could be doing a lot worse. Kit, yeah? And you’re Ty.”  _ Always safe to double check.  _ I remember Kirstin saying that for a week after she learned my name. The first time was to check, maybe the next one too, but the rest was to annoy me. The question was definitely stated as more of a statement than a fact.

“And you are one of those cousins. It’s either Avery or Kirstin. My bet is on Kirstin, but I’m not exactly sure.” Kit makes an awkward face, sticking his hand out to shake.

“Kirstin.” Our three voices ring out at the same time, leaving Kit to laugh. Kirstin smiles shaking his hand.

“No worries. Usually, people tend to forget I even exist when they talk with Avery, so it’s definitely an upgrade. You’re Ryder’s… relative right? And you’re a Blackthorn?” She speaks to both of them. Reaching to shake Ty’s hand. When he doesn’t move to shake it, she lets it drop awkwardly to her lap. He moves to apologize, but she just smiles, “It’s cool. I kind of don’t like touching people either if that’s what it is. Kind of learned to force myself to be polite when people hug me, or to shake peoples hands. Trust me, if that is the reason, don’t force yourself. It’s not fun.” He doesn’t quite meet her eyes as he speaks, seeming to examine her face though.

“Why do it if it’s not fun?” He asks, looking inquisitive.

“People tend to like that. Touching people helps calm nerves of some, riles up others, but it’s a good way to learn something about the person. Like with you, you rejected the touch, and even when we were hanging out the first time, opted to not touch anybody. It lets me know that you are more reserved than most, probably only letting your family and a few choice others touch you. You’re also probably observant, you talk less than other teenagers your age, but your eyes never stay on anything too long… always taking in a new detail of your surroundings. You kind of fiddle with the sleeve of your shirt too, maybe because you don’t like to sit still, possibly a nervous habit. It could also help you focus. I like your eyes, by the way, they’re really pretty.” She moves to pick up the Gray Book opening to the page she left off on. Ty’s face seems to brighten immediately as she begins to explain things.

“Where did you learn to do that?” He blurts, moving forward slightly. He looks younger than his seventeen years, definitely excited as his slender frame moves toward his cousin to a slight degree.

Kirstin smiles down at her book, her eyes flickering to me in a knowing look, “I grew up watching people instead of talking to them, it was easy to pick up on certain traits that everybody would see, maybe some others usually don’t. I didn’t really get into the deep details until I started working with Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow. She helped me learn to do it without thinking about it, like an instinct. You like music?” he looks down toward the headphones around his neck.

“It calms me down.”

“Nice.” She goes back to reading. Kits had a knowing smile on his face. She was doing all the right things to egg him on, asking pointed questions to get him to speak, complimenting him to see his reaction, pulling away from the conversation so he can drop it if he wants, or proceed deeper into it.

“Why examine people if you can talk to them? Wouldn’t it be easier?”  _ Always so eager to learn, Ty.  _ I smile, tapping Kit’s arm and nodding toward the door.

“Hey, Ryder and I are gonna head out. You wanna come?” Ty shakes his head slightly, his eyes never leaving Kirstin’s face.

 


	33. 32

Kirstin’s P.O.V.- The Next Night

I close the Gray Book, having just finished reading it. I look around the library, realizing I'm probably one of the only ones awake. Well, Mason is awake, so its either really early or really late. He seems to just be getting to bed, so late.

I stretch, walking out of the library and to the room I have been staying in. Ty had left maybe an hour or two ago, so I didn't have anyone to talk to for the night, Jack in bed with Mason and Ryder nowhere to be seen. I fling the door open when I arrive, flicking on my lights and jumping onto the bed, using my powers to close the door. I recoil instantly when my head and chest connect with two pieces of metal.

I roll off of the bed, on to my feet, picking the pieces of metal up and examining them. They seemed to vibrate in my hands, the metal shining in the artificial lighting. They had two opposite edges where they seem to connect. A bo staff, complete with grips, split into two separate pieces in my hands. Clicking them together, making sure they are locked before trying a few moves, dismantling them to place them on my nightstand, grabbing my phone. I dial the number easily, pulling them into my lap to examine them, “Hello, the most amazing uncle in the world speaking. I assume you got your gift. Made out of vibranium too, with a mix of angel blade metal. Would you call it angel metal?”

I snort, moving to grab my duffel bag from the floor, opening it to look through, pulling my suit out, “Okay, yeah. Admittedly, it’s cool. Where did you put the tracker?”

His laughter is at a distance. I must be on speaker phone because I can hear other people in the room, “I have three sewn into the suit, not telling you where. Two in the bo staff, one on your boots.”

“Jesus Christ! Paranoid much Tony?” I yelp, putting the phone on speaker as I pull my shirt over my head. I shimmy out of my pants as I grab the suit, pulling it on.

“Yes, he is!” Steve’s voice rings through the phone, earning a laugh out of me.

“No! I’m prepared. Look at your family! Someone is bound to kidnap you!” Tony elaborates like this explains everything. He sounds slightly out of breath like he’s running around the lab. I smile as I pick up my batman blade. Dean gave it to me for my thirteenth birthday, a complete gag gift that he wasn’t expecting me to like. I tuck it into the utility belt, pulling it around my waist.

“What the hell are you doing?” I pull on the boots, plopping on the bed.

“He’s comparing our DNA. He told me he’d show me a new science thing, it’s pretty cool. It has to do with DNA.” Peter pipes up.

“Aw, Peter Parker pipes up to his paternal figure.” I joke, not even sure what I was trying to say. I move to grab a hair tie and a brush, pulling my hair into a large braid. I pull a hairpin out, admiring it before easily releasing the case. The hairpin was a blade, the protector on it stopping it from cutting the hair it’s tucked in. I put it away, setting it down. I only use those when I’m going somewhere I can't easily smuggle weapons.

“Shut up, that made zero sense. Anyway, you have perfect timing to call. I need you at a Gala tomorrow night. It was announced that you are safe and well a few months ago, reverting back to the regular world, please give us some privacy for the healing approach. People are starting to get worried that this was a cover, so I need you to make a very public appearance, hence the Gala. Dress pretty, bring a date. Bring Mason or something, don’t actually get a date. You're too young. Where a dress.” Tony calls, sounding a lot closer and a lot louder. I groan, taking him off of speaker phone and tucking the phone between my face and shoulder.

“Umm,” I dig through my duffel.  _ No dresses. Shit.  _ **_Ask Isabelle. Don’t die out there._ ** _ Go to sleep, and don’t tell anybody I’m leaving.  _ **_You got it._ ** _ Thanks.  _ “I’ll try my best. I didn’t bring any, but I’ll see if this girl has one in the morning. I actually have to go, I need to get something to eat. Haven’t eaten in a few days. Bye.” I hang up before he can respond, tucking it into the utility belt and clicking a cover over the top. Really don’t need that falling out. I pull the weapons out of my duffle, placing them where they go. Attaching the bow staff too. I double check everything one more time before pulling my mask on. I move to the window, blinking and appearing on the roof next door. I smile, running and jumping to the other building.

After doing this a few times, I hear a sound of fighting coming from the street. I jump down easily, landing next to a group of people leaned over another person, meaning I couldn’t get a good view of them. I saw a glimpse of long brown hair, “Hey! Get off of her!” I pull one away, gasping slightly when I see the red ringed eyes and blood dripping from his mouth. I pull my blade out, chopping off the Strigoi’s head, watching as the skin I cut sizzles. Fucking love adamas. I stab it through the chest, kicking one of the Strigoi in the face, causing all of them to unlatch from the body, turning to hiss before lunging. I yelp, ducking quickly, tripping one of the Strigoi. I pop up, throwing one of my knives, smiling as it digs into one Strigoi’s throat, burning the skin around it. I pull half my bo staff out, blocking one arm of the two other Strigoi, pulling my sword out and stabbing it through its chest, moving to puncture its heart. It falls easily, my blade sliding out as I’m trapped by the other Strigoi. I hear voices yelling as its fangs sink into my throat.

I let out a moan as it's venom rushes through my body, the endorphins it releases making my brain fog over. I go nearly limp in its arms as it continues to drink. I hear a choking sound as a figure appears in front of me, in the mouth of the alley. The Strigoi jerks back from my throat, causing me to stumble as I spin around to attack it. Turns out I didn't need to. It keels over, veins black and eyes wide open. Its skin begins to burn in the places the veins were touching.

Instead of focusing on it, I turn to the familiar girl on the ground. Her matted brown hair sticks to her bloodied next as her jade green eyes gawk at the Strigoi, who look like his skin was boiling, “Hey, you're okay.” I carefully pull her to her feet, moving to see her neck. I wince as I see a piece of flesh ripped off of where the bite took place. I spin around to see an also familiar looking guy standing over the Strigoi, “Yo, I need a big piece of fabric. She's bleeding heavily and it will help slow the bleeding until she can get to a hospital.” He rips a piece of the Strigoi’s shirt of, bunching it up. He moves around me, pulling her hair away from her wound and pressing it on there. While he's tending to her, I pull my phone out, calling the police, making sure my phone is untraceable. I tell her there was a cult attack at our location, asking her to hurry because someone was injured.

I then move pulling my blade out of the vampires as I turn to the duo. “The police are on there way. Tell them that it was a cult. Call them the кровяная присоска gang.” I have to hold back a laugh.  _ The Blood Sucker Gang. _ Completely unoriginal, but a way Rose came up with describing the Strigoi attacks.

“These aren't a cult, these are Strigoi. Don't pin this on something that doesn't have anything to do with it.” The girl speaks harshly, her voice slightly slurring as she leans on the man heavily for support.

“I know. The кровяная присоска gang is a cover for Strigoi activity. It translates to bloodsucker. It's how we keep the police off our backs” I hear the sirens going off. I salute them, before running toward the other wall. I push myself off of the trash can, using my momentum to make it look like I jumped all the way to the roof before teleporting to the top. I smile as the girl is loaded into the ambulance, pulling out my phone and connecting to the police radio, sitting with my legs dangling off the building.  _ This is gonna be a long night. _

#

I see Izzy walking down the hallway of the Institute, moving toward the weapons room. I quickly slide up next to her, matching her pace, “New mission?”

She laughs as she walks past the weapons room, heading toward the library instead, “Actually research. A group of four Strigoi was killed last night. Reports of a mysterious hero popping up. Tony Stark himself has referred to her as Wanderess.  _ A darling friend. _ ” She spins around, smiling mischievously, “It's you, isn't it? Glowing gold eyes were a dead give away.”

I laugh, “Yeah. It's me. Keep that on the DL though, not sure how all this is going to play out yet. That's not why I was looking for you though. Do you have a… formal dress? Something I can wear to a Gala, maybe? I don't have one, nor do I have the energy to actively find one.” She laughs, looking at my outfit. I was wearing a lacy unbuttoned flannel, my tight black tank top under it.

“Sweety, nothing I have will fit you. I'm a little too busty. Besides, all my formal dresses would clash with everything about you. How long until you have to go to this Gala?” I groan as she speaks, dreading where this is leading.

“I have to be at Avengers Compound in three hours, at the Gala in three and a half.” I yelp as she grabs my arm, pulling me toward the Institute exit.

“We don't have a lot of time to get you ready, we got to hurry. I'll text Magnus to meet us there.” I sigh as we head out. Fun times.

#

I laugh as I run down the busy street, my dress bag in one hand and side satchel full of everything else I need. I figured I’d just do in my normal colored shoes, but Izzy wasn’t having that. I had a beautiful black lace dress. It had long sleeves, with a high low design. My shoes had thick heels, which was decided after I nearly fell while trying to walk in thin heels. Nearly face planted, actually. No matter how much grace I have, heels are not my thing. It was only after we were heading back to the subway did it hit Izzy that I haven’t gotten my Equilibrium rune or an Agility rune. I ended up with an Agility rune on my arm, and the Equilibrium rune on my thigh.

I fling the door to the Compound open, maneuvering around the security downstairs, waving hi to Happy as I got to the elevator. I nearly knock Pepper over as she grabs my arm, climbing onto the elevator with me, “You’re ten minutes late. I see you’ve gotten a dress this time. Heels?”

“In my bag. Along with my hairpins and some leggings.” I answer. Not only was she the CEO of the company, she also took it upon herself to become a sort of public relations manager for me. And attempting a maternal figure.

“Let me see the leggings.” I pull out a pair of my old leggings. They were blue and really thick. They didn’t go with the dress, at all, but they covered my runes, so I grabbed it before I left.

“No way. These will make you too hot, and they have a hole in the knee and the back of the thigh.” I laugh, grabbing them.

“I only knew about the one on my knee, Pep. Thanks for the info.”

She snatches them out of my hands as the elevator doors close. She tosses the leggings at a dressed up Peter, earning a snicker from me, “These need to go in the garbage. Make sure they end up somewhere they won’t be found.”

“Those are my only pair of leggings. And you just totally disrespected my dear friend Pete, Pep.” Peter laughs, flipping me off as he moves to the sink. He asks Bucky for a lighter, setting them on fire. I laugh at the faces Pepper and Bucky make.

“Revenge for setting my scarf on fire.” He calls after me as she snaps out of it, hurrying me along.

“That was an accident! You’ve got to let that go!” To say the compound was a little hectic was an understatement. It was the first real public outing for all of the Avengers at once since their criminal statuses were dropped. And my first public appearance since going missing, so that’s interesting. Nat was in the living room on the phone, wearing a slinky black dress that only her could pull off, no heels in sight, and her makeup light. Bucky was in the kitchen wearing a suit, watching as Peter continues to burn my ugly leggings, Steve and Wilson coming down the stairs in suits, conversing with each other as Pepper ushers me toward the bathroom.

“Get dressed. I’ll do your makeup as soon as you are done. Hurry please.” The door is then being slammed in my face.  _ Ah, good times. The sarcasm is strong in this one. Go away, unless you want to see me change. Not even remotely tempting. Good. Stay gay, my lovely Mason. Stay straight, my beautiful Mackenzie.  _ I laugh as I quickly change into the dress, pulling on the heels afterward. I sigh as I realize two of my four runes are easily spotted, a third one is cut off by the dress, showing the edges of it. My torso is long, making the dress look shorter on me, easily showing part of my thigh. _ I didn’t realize it was that short. They can see my rune. And my thigh, that’s going to be awkward. _

I sigh, looking myself up and down in the mirror. I turn and walk into the room, causing Pepper to nearly screech in frustration, “You got a tattoo?” She notices the one on my shoulder, then the one on my hand, “Multiple tattoos?”

“Actually, they are called runes. They give Shadowhunters cool abilities. This one helps me see through glamours. This one is an Equilibrium rune, meaning it helps with balance. The one on my shoulder is Angelic power, and there is one on my arm for Agility. That one’s kind of self-explanatory. Anyway, makeup and hairdo? I have hair pins that need to go in my hair.”

Pepper huffs, anger clear on her face, turning to Wanda, “Can you please do her makeup? I need to have a word with Tony.” She storms off, her heels clicking. I turn to Steve, panic building in my stomach. I hadn’t thought about how they would react to the runes until I put the dress on.

“I will go with you, Pepper. He’s taking too long anyway. You really shouldn’t stress, it’s not good…” Steve's voice trails off as the bearded dirty blond man disappears after her.

“She’s always stressed because of me. Why is he worrying now?” I question as I sit on a stool in front of Wanda, who grabs some makeup from the counter, pulling up a chair in front of me.

“It’s a long story. They’ve been back together for almost a year now, Kirstin.” That adds up. A few months before the fight with Thanos, about six months after going to the other Earth. Adds up.

“Yeah, and they were together for… what, five years before they broke up? What does this have to do with anything?” Instead of answering, Wanda opted to focus on my makeup, ignoring my persistent questioning. She finishes, moving to do my hair. It was a pretty simple hairdo, a bun with a braid looped around it. The hairpin knives were slid carefully into the hairdo, Wanda never even questioning why I was so adamant on having them anytime I do something like this. I continue to question her, getting nowhere.

“Kirstin, will you leave the poor girl alone.” Tony finally makes an appearance as the group in the main level slowly thins, “Wanda, a limo is waiting to take you to the Gala. It starts soon, you wouldn’t want to be late. Vision is waiting for you.” He waits for everyone else to leave before turning to me, grabbing my arm to look at my Voyance rune.

“Why is everyone ignoring my questioning?” I move to play with the hand that was gripping my arm lightly, to see a band on his finger. On his left ring finger. “Oh. You wanted to tell me you and Steve got hitched?”

He smiles slightly, pulling his arm back to fiddle with his cufflinks, “We were married before the Civil War, Kirstin. Why do you think we tried so hard to work it out, mend fences after the fight. It was hard… so, so hard. But he is my husband and I was determined to fix it. That’s not what they aren’t telling you.” He stares at the ground.

“Aren’t dying again, are you? There’s no, like, reason to be worried, right? I mean everything was kind of going to shit a few months ago, and it’s still steadily dropping, but if you’re dying we can find a way to fix it. Maybe angel grace, or something. Maybe-” He laughs, setting a hand on my shoulder to have me sit back in the seat I didn’t realize I was standing up from.

“I’m not dying. Steve and I… okay two things. Just gonna come right out and say the first one, the second one might need more explaining. Pepper is a surrogate for Steve and me. She’s a month along and Steve’s been fretting, hence the stress conversation you overheard.”

“Are you going to tell me it’s twins or something? I mean congratulations, but I’m nervous about the other thing. Pepper’s always been my kind-of aunt, it’s not that weird. Kinda feel bad for Happy, but he’s a really chill guy, so he could have agreed to that. Is he driving us, because I would love to talk to him if we are? I saw him yesterday but Alec and everyone was around, so we didn’t really get to-”

“Peter’s my son!” He blurts, causing me to trail off.

“-talk…” I stare at him for a moment, thinking everything through.  _ What type of voodoo is this shit? That kid is literally the same age as me, or pretty damn close.  _ “How? Actually, don’t tell me, I get the gist of it. I took sex ed.”

“There was no sex involved, relax. It was a sperm bank actually. Peter’s dad couldn’t have kids, and Mary wanted a kid. Artificial insemination is a thing. I don’t think May even knew. My end was a stupid dare. I was drunk, again it was a dare, I was like barely eighteen. Do you know how long that stuff can last at a place like that?”

“Twenty-eight years, that’s known of so far, Tony,” I mutter quietly, answering his rhetorical question. At his surprised and concerned look, I snicker, “One, I did a project on it a few years ago. Two, Sam was thinking about donating a year after Jess died. Now I think Natasha and him are thinking about adoption.” I stand up grabbing my phone and checking the time. About ten minutes late. I hand Tony my phone to put in his pocket as I link arms with him. “Found out last night, yeah?”

“Yep. I think I’m still in shock. I haven’t started panicking yet, so I’m doing something right. I’m setting up child support checks for May. I don’t want to pull him out of the only stable home he’s had for years now. Plus, I mean he’s almost eighteen, so there's not much I could do to talk him into moving here. I am going to see about getting May and him into a better place, so she isn’t at work so much. Maybe have him stay here every other week. I-” I grab his shoulders, stopping us in front of the closed elevator.

“Okay breath. I thought my rants were bad, damn. Everything's going to work out. I’m assuming he knows, so talk to him about it. Be straightforward. Teenagers hate thinking you’re talking down to them or hiding things from them. Be gentle about it too, he’s just learned about this and Peter may be stubborn, but he’s a fragile kid on the inside.” He snickers as the doors open to reveal the two blondes that were waiting impatiently.

“This child is going to inherit all of our impatience and it’s going to be dreadful.” Tony jokes, pulling me into the elevator next to Steve.

“I hope the baby has Steve’s eyes. Maybe I’ll actually look like someone in this god damn huge-ass family.” I joke as the elevator doors close, sending us to the garage.


	34. 33

Unknown P.O.V.- Present Day

I watch as Kirstin smiles and laughs, all fake. Talking to the stuffy rich people. A place where she doesn't belong. She can play the part, act all classy and posh and money hungry, but in reality, she's a freak of nature. All three of them are. Monsters, just like me.

I watch as a man walks up to her, flirting in a way that makes her stiffen. He's clearly older than her, a man who should be in prison still. Justin Hammer. He flirts and touches her chest, earning a knife to the throat from Kirstin. My vision goes red as he does it, as he disrespects the Princess this word will learn to respect, learn to fear.

I follow quietly as he's thrown out, smiling as someone punches him in the face a few times, getting him nice and bloody. Bucky Barnes. A soldier close to my Princess. My Prince's Princess, technically. I hide as she appears, grabbing his arm and pulling him away.  _ Don't do that. Let him finish the bastard. _

I sigh as they leave.  _ I guess I'll have to do it myself _ . I move away from my hiding place, smiling at the disgusting man in front of me, “Justin Hammer? I thought I'd say hello. I'm a big fan, you know.”

He smiles an ugly, cocky smile nodding to a limo that was pulling up.  _ A little harder, but I can manage.  _ “Really?”

“Yeah.” I step closer, letting my happy facade fall, showing the anger and contempt boiling in my veins, my vision going red again. “I'm a huge fan of idiotic millionaires who think they can do whatever they please because they have money. You assaulted the Princess. Apologize, beg for mercy and I'll debate letting you off with a warning.”

He scoffs looking back towards the even inside. Only the elite could get in, and parking was in the back, so.the parking lot was completely empty void for us and the driver, “The Princess? You mean Tony Stark’s slut of a niece? Let me tell you, she ain't no princess. She's a two-bit whore who riles men up before shutting them down to cause a scene.”

I growl, “She did not rile you up. She is loyal to the Prince only. Your fragile male ego seemed to do it for you. Now, apologize.”

He laughs, a nervous sound, “Listen, Psycho. I'm not apologizing to some creep who thinks the Starks are royalty. The greedy son of a bitch and his slut of a niece aren't anything like you think. They hurt people. Why do you think the Accords were proposed in the first place? I wouldn't be shocked if she was a Prostitute, maybe even a terrorist. Here's my advice-” My blade rips viciously through the slightly drunk man's chest, watching as the light fades from his eyes. I repeatedly stab him, letting my anger tear through me. I quickly move to kill the driver, moving sitting on the roof of the running car after I finish, debating how to place my presents.

Kirstin’s P.O.V.- Present Day

I easily maneuver through the crowd, my hand on Bucky’s arm. I pull him to Steve and Tony’s little huddle in the corner, “Found him. The douche has a car ordered. He's heading home, which, sadly, isn't a prison cell.”

“I could sue. You're sixteen so you're underage, for one. For two, it was unwanted.” Tony offers.

“And he kept persisting, even when you told him to get lost,” Bucky adds, his jaws clenching harshly.

“I know. Just drop it guys. At least three different photographers caught everything he did. I'm not too worried about him being condemned, more worried about my pride now more than anything. Fucking asshole. Are we allowed to ditch yet?” Tony glances toward the back door. I turn to look, seeing a woman with a fancy gold dress on, seemingly ready to ditch this place.

“Yes. She's always the first to leave. As soon as she does, it's considered free game. I think we can get away with leaving early though, come on. Do you want to tell the others?” I shake my head, moving toward the door.

“They'll catch on eventually. After all, they can call a cab for themsel-” My sentence is cut off by a loud scream. I shared a worried glance with Tony, both of us running toward the door. Tony pulls the woman back as I exit, cutting in front of her. I step outside, feeling nauseated as I examine what happened. Justin Hammer lays sprawled out on the sidewalk, body mutilated and bloody and bruised face on the ground. The car was running, a body sprawled out in the same pose as Justin. They appeared like they were supposed to be bowing, but dead bodies can’t bow. They were staged, that was clear. I glance around, gasping as I look at the wall next to me. WELCOME HOME PRINCESS was sprawled out in blood on the wall.

A movement above the building catches my eye. A shadowed figure appears to be looking down at the scene. I quickly flick my eyes down, making sure they didn’t notice me looking. I move to the alley, out of the site of others. I teleport to the roof to see the figure retreating, so I run after it.  _ Thank god for those new runes. Running in heels is a no-go. _ **_I called my mom. She’s on her way. So are Ryder, Clary, and I. Don’t do anything stupid._ ** _ Pretty sure it’s too late for that.  _ I jump over the space between the buildings, hearing footsteps behind me, but not stopping to look. I speed up, getting closer to the figure, close enough to grab their shoulder. A body seems to appear out of nowhere, slamming into the figure and sending it sprawling, knocking me over in the process. My vision blurs for a second as my head connects harshly with the roof of the building, quickly snapping into focus to see Spider-man is on top of him, moving to hit him. The guy then proceeds to block the punch, easily flinging him over the edge of the building. I pull my knife out, flinging it at the man, digging into his body him as he disappears over the space between the two buildings.

I stand up, moving to the ledge, jumping off of the building, landing easily on my feet to see Spidey dangling tangled in his own webs, “At least you didn’t hit the ground. You good?” I focus on the kife returning to my hand, feeling it pull free of the guys back as he disappears into the night. I examine the webs Spidey tangled himself in.

“That guy was really strong! He sent me flying like I was a bug. You okay?” I scoff, the knife sliding into my hand.

“Duh, why wouldn’t I be?” He attempts to untangle himself, getting stuck a lot. I laugh, pulling my other blade from the hairpin holster, keeping the other one away from the webs as I help cut him out of them.

He moves toward me when his feet are on the ground. He touches the side of my face, earning a slight wince out of me. _ Okay, that’s still a little tender, _ “You hit your head pretty hard.”

“It’s healing as we speak. Might be a little slow, still haven’t eaten anything.” I mean it as a joke, a painfully true joke, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Maybe you should eat something. That’s not healthy.”

“Maybe you should change, Spidey. Don’t want to get caught up with the rich people as a superhero.” I turn around quickly, giving him a chance to change out of the metal suit that builds around his clothes. Peter laughs as he links arms with me, his metal suit now replaced with the stiff fabric of his suit. “Unless you wanna be in the public eye more than you have to be. Being a Stark and everything.”

“Tony told you.” I laugh as he pulls me back toward the group of Avengers huddled around the crime scene.

“Yeah, but now may not be the best time to talk about that.” I unlink my arm when I notice Rose standing over the body, gloves on so as not to get her fingerprints on it. I move toward her, careful to keep the blood on the knife from dripping on the crime scene, “Rose! I think the blood belongs to the killer if you wanna run a test.”

She stands, keeping an eye on some group of three. All of them look familiar, it was Dimitri Belikov and the couple I saved last night. Or whatever they are, they look like a couple, but I probably shouldn’t assume, “Yeah. Okay. I feel like you need to give that to your friends over there.” She nods toward Clary and Ryder, who were looking at the bloody words on the wall, “The blade used? It’s the same type of metal as your blades.” She moves toward the body, showing me the wounds. There were burn marks around the edges of them, clearly marking that something made from adamas was used.

“No Shadowhunter would do this. They are sworn to protect mundanes. A mundane couldn’t have done it, nor a Downworlder or a demon. They can’t touch adamas, can’t use it the way we can. I mean, that leaves one option left. Sebastian. But why would he kill him, what is with the cryptic message?

Rose pauses for a moment pulling me away from the body as the rest of the squad shows up, “I know but it isn’t like the last killing he did, he wanted something from Max. Maybe he wanted something from Justin. He beats them brutally either way. I’ll have someone from forensics check Justin out, someone I can trust, okay? I’ll tell you, Tony and Steve, and whoever leads those people. What worries me is the message. ‘Welcome home Princess’? That’s clearly directed towards you.”

I scoff, staring at the writing, “That could be pointed towards anyone. It could…” I trail off realizing that it kind of did add up. Of course, being the stubborn bitch I am, I’m not going to admit that out loud.

“It adds up, and you know it. There was a person live streaming when Justin grabbed your chest, nice knives by the way. He disrespects you, he ends up dead. The words on the wall, welcome home Princess? This is your first time out in public since you were brought home from Lucifer’s kidnapping. It would be the perfect time to welcome you home because he put it in a place he knew you would see it. He knew exactly where you would be tonight, everybody in New York did. Give me a good, solid reason this isn’t connected to you?”

I bite at my cheek, trying to come up with a reason when the answer hits me like a ton of bricks, “He could be talking to Wanda or Nat. This is their first time in the public eye since they aren’t criminals.”

“But they don’t have connections to the Shadowhunters, you do. Not enough proof to calm this Mamma’s nerves. I’m putting someone in charge of you, to make sure he doesn’t get near you. I know you can take care of yourself, God do I know it, but it’s just a precaution. I’m not going to let you say n-”

“Okay,” I mutter quietly, thinking back to the fight on the roof, my head throbbing in a non-existent ache. It was healed now, nothing but a phantom pain.

“Okay?” She looks flabbergasted at the side of my face, her intense stare making me shift uncomfortably, “You would usually fight tooth and nail to get out of having a babysitter, Kirstin. What gives?”

Instead of answering, I look around at the commotion of the scene. People were taking statements, nearly everybody in the party was outside now, “It’s nothing Rose.”

“It’s clearly not nothing if you’re willing to be watched and protected. What. Gives?”

“I said it’s nothing, okay.” I lash out harshly, wanting her to drop the subject, “Leave it alone.”

Rose looks annoyed, sighing, “You’re coming over tonight. We’re talking about this, even if I have to force it out of you.”

I take a step back, putting on a fake smile, forcing out a nearly choked laugh, “Is that a threat?”  _ Lighten the mood. Deflect. Deflect everything. _

“No, but it can be. We’ll wrap up here, then I’ll take Mason and you back with me. Kick all of the other people out. Just us three. Like it used to be.”

“Like it used to be.” I mimic, looking over at the teenage Shadowhunter as I’m being pulled to Rose’s SUV.  _ Like that can ever happen. Too far gone to go back now.  _

  
  



	35. 34

Jack's P.O.V.- Two Weeks Later...

Mason slides a salad in front of a working Kirstin. She shoves it away, nearly off the table, moving to finish what she was working on. She had finished nearly everything in the batteries, which meant there was the last step, seeing if the batteries read like angels would. She was getting the batteries setup, making sure all of them were complete, the graces reading right, waiting for Cas and Ithuriel to get back with whoever they were bringing. A specialist on grace reading, or something, "I swear to god, Kirstin Mackenzie Black. If you do not eat this food I will shove it down your throat."

"I'm not hungry. Honestly, just looking at that makes me want to throw up." I look at the salad. It doesn't look gross. It looked good, why does it make her sick?

"I'll order you a burger instead!" I stand up to order, only for Kirstin to grab my arm.

"I'm not hungry. Don't order me anything. I'm good." I sit back down, pouting, "Don't do that!"

I huff, sinking slightly in my chair, "Do what?"

"No, no, stop it. I don't like that face. That is an awful face, stop it. I- God fine! I'll," She leans over, taking a large bite of the salad, chewing harshly, " _ Mmmmh. _ Mmh. Wow, this salad isn't that bad." I perk up as she eats more of it, scarfing the salad in front of her quickly.

"This is what happens when someone hasn't eaten in four weeks," Mason mutters quietly next to my ear. My eyebrows furrow as Ryder slides into the seat next to Kirstin.

"Why not?" I hear the door open behind me, the doorbell jingling.

"I've been busy. Preoccupied really, thinking too much, working too much, didn't have time to eat. Thanks for the salad though." She speaks quickly before pressing against Ryder's side, nearly pushing him out of the booth as she leans over him, "Over here, Cassie. Hey, Gabe, look who's not dead anymore!"

I laugh as the two angels appear, Ithuriel trailing behind the two. He seemed normal, except for the grace lighting up his face, the broken wings spread out from his back. Cas' look the same, except they were black; Ithuriel's were a cream color, an off-white, Kirstin says. She's really good at describing colors, I think it's because she uses them when she paints. She keeps telling me it's because she's a color whisperer, but we both know she is joking. Gabriel had six beautiful golden wings. They can make their wings intangible (Kirstin also told me what that meant) meaning their wings cannot be touched, they are passed through. I've tried it once, all it does is send a chill through your body.

Kirstin and I can tuck our wings away, unlike the angels. It's like forcing our wings back into our skin, but we can only make the base of our wings intangible, mainly to stop it from ripping our clothes. I think Kirstin found that she could do the intangibility thing if we tried, but it was really uncomfortable and she praised Cas on having the willpower to do that all the time.

"You should really lower your voice, people might think you're crazy." Mason cuts in as the angels pull up chairs. Ryder laughs shaking his head.

"Not really. This place is full of Downworlders. It's more of a don't ask, don't tell policy here." He sends a flirty smile at a girl with vines for hair. Kirstin snickers softly when the waitress rolls her eyes.

"I think you are off your game, Ryder." Kirstin jokes, a subtle serious undertone in her light, amused voice. Ryder smirks, throwing his arm over her shoulder.

"Not even trying, Cutie." She pushes his arm off, sending a look toward Mason.

"Maybe you should try. The other relationship you want clearly isn't going anywhere. You should just give up and move on. The girl is clearly no good for you. Or anybody, for that matter." Her voice is heated, some type of anger behind them. He spits back, his voice just as venomous.

"That's my decision, not yours. Or hers. I decide if someone is good for me or not. All she needs to do is figure out how she feels, whether she is interested or not. Leave the rest up to fate." Kirstin sneers, letting out a harsh laugh.

"Fate isn't real. It's something angel's used as a way to trap people. Not my thing."

"Okay, we're gathered here in this place to test out the grace batteries. Kirstin, maybe we should get back on topic?" Mason interrupts the heated conversation, sending Kirstin a knowing look. She shakes her head for a second, all the anger was gone as she speaks this time.

"Yeah. Yep, yes. Okay, so each of these have nineteen vials in them, so they should have a major presence. I feel it, it's like I'm surrounded by quite a few angels, it's uncomfortable but I figured I should get a second opinion. What do you think?"

Gabe smiles, "Yeah I feel it. How many of these do you have?"

"Eighteen. I had a total of three hundred and forty-two vials, so I have a lot of batteries. I just need one more thing from you." She pushes the battery towards the three angels, a sheepish smile on her face, "I need you to touch it."

The archangel snorts, easily setting his whole hand on it before letting out an undignified yelp, the metal causing his skin to sizzle. The other two were more cautious, lightly touching it with the tips of one of their fingers, quickly jerking back also, "Yes, Kirstin. It appears the demon metal is doing its intended purpose. Now, we need you to bring them to the entrance to Heaven. We can give those to them."

"Yeah, but I expect you to be completely pardoned, and for me to be left alone. This bitch took forever to make. All eighteen of them actually. Plus, Ryder kicked the batteries in my room at least three times." She pushes said teenager out of the booth, proceeding to scoot out and grab the battery.

"Why was Ryder anywhere near your room?" Cas questions, earning a giggle from me. Kirstin doesn't seem to find it nearly as funny, choosing to roll her eyes at Castiel's clearly over-protective question.

"Arguing. That's all we've been doing for the past two weeks. As you can clearly tell, nothing has been resolved. Come on, I need help moving all of the batteries, and the angels are currently useless. Roadtrip." I laugh as Kirstin all but runs out of the restaurant.

#

I smile as I'm told to come into Magnus' apartment. Ryder was next to me, Kirstin having 'accidentally' left him behind when they left for the Heaven portal. They claimed not to need me, which I think was mostly in case the exchange goes south. Now, Ryder was dragging me to Magnus' to discuss a theory with me. They had been thinking about it since the meeting about the files.

"Good, you're here." Magnus throws a set of sparks in the general direction of a large area. A table with papers scattered across it appears.  _ I wonder if I could do that? _

"Yes, we are. Why are we here? Do you have a lead on Sebastian?" Ryder asks quickly, moving toward his uncle. Magnus rolls his eyes finishing up whatever he was working on, setting it on the cabinet.

"No offense to your amazing fighting skills, Cupcake, but if I had a lead on Sebastian I would probably tell any of the adults except you and your father. You Herondales have this amazing ability to run head first into danger without thinking about it. Like that relationship with your girlfriend." Magnus smiles as Ryder sends a rude gesture in his direction, pulling a chair out from the table, spinning it so he's sitting with his chest to the back of the chair. I slowly walk and sit in the chair next to him, playing with my jacket sleeve.

"She's not my girlfriend Magnus, stop. What are we here for?" Magnus sighs, sitting in a chair across from us, flipping through the pages on the table.  _ Who is this girl everyone is talking about? _

"We're talking about this later, understand? I don't like the way you said that I plan to fix it. Anyway, you are here to look at these." He slides a paper towards us. I peak over Ryder's shoulder. It was one of the sheets from the files Max had made, the one comparing Ryder's powers to other ancient artifacts. One of them was circled.  _ The Mortal Sword. _

He slides another over, the third one following in quick succession. Again, they were from the files. Kirstin's paper and mine.  _ The Mortal Mirror, The Mortal Cup. _

"We resemble the Mortal Instruments. I don't... I don't understand what the big deal is. What are the Mortal Instruments?" I say quietly, not really seeing why Magnus called us here.

Magnus chuckles slightly, "You're a little behind on Shadow World information, aren't you? The Mortal Instruments are three angelic items given by the to Jonathan Shadowhunter, the namesake of the Shadowhunters, and the first one to ever exist. They are the Mortal Mirror, The Mortal Cup, and the Mortal Sword. The Mortal Cup is what creates Shadowhunters; besides normal means of creation."

_ Huh?   _ "I don't..."

"He means procreation, Jack. You know birds and the bees? Sex and babies?" I nodded carefully, shifting awkwardly under the others' gazes.

"Oh. Right."

"Anyway, Drinking Raziel's blood from the cup is what created the first Shadowhunters, and drinking any form of angelic blood from the cup is what creates them in the modern world. The transformation can only be done on Mundanes, and even then survival isn't a given."  _ So like my abilities, but with more death?  _  Magnus pauses for a second, seemingly mulling over a few thoughts of his own, "The Mortal Sword was the sword used by Jonathan Shadowhunter. It can force the truth out of any Shadowhunter; I've been told using it is an excruciating experience. The Mortal Mirror, Lake Lynn, is the waters in which the Angel Raziel was summoned in. It causes hallucinations, madness, and even death to those who drink from it. All three of these together can be used to summon the Angel Raziel and make one wish. Somebody already did this, so it really isn't important anymore. It could only be used once, so they are inactive now."  _ Those abilities sound similar. The parallels are there, I get why he thinks that we could be... Especially when we use our powers together. _

"It would explain why Max didn't want this getting into Sebastian's hands. He could think we were another set of Mortal Instruments, try to use us to summon the Angel Raziel. Though, if Rose's theory is true, it seems he's already after Kirstin. Wouldn't be shocked if he wanted to kill me, my parents worked together to kill him. At least Jack can maybe get off scotch free. This all?" Ryder speaks loud enough for us to hear, though I think most of it was him talking to himself. I think back to the fight with Thanos.  _ We were dangerous together. _

"Do you think it could be true?" I question, earning a light chuckle from Magnus and a scoff from Ryder. Not a mean one, but one of disbelief.

"No way. There is only one set of Mortal Instruments, they've been used to summon Raziel. There aren't any redos for that. Plus, the Mortal Sword is broken, the Cup is finally back in the Clave's possession, and the Mirror is literally a giant lake. How can we be the embodiment of those?"

"Even if you were, Jack, the Clave would probably lock you up so you could never see the light of day. Wouldn't risk their most powerful beings out in the world." I stare at the duo for a few moments before standing up. 

"I am going back to the Institute now. I'm working with blades, and actually making progress." Ryder stands up also, quick to follow me. I open the door, stopping when he pauses for a moment.

"Yeah, I should probably get back to. Thanks, Uncle Magnus. Give my cousins some hugs from me please." He turns walking out before me. I pull the door shut, walking in silence for a long time. About halfway through the walk, my wandering thoughts finally force my mouth open.

"It makes sense," I state, looking over at the slightly taller blonde. Ryder's face scrunches up for a moment, looking around us.

"What, deciding to walk instead of teleport?" Nudging my shoulder slightly, he laughs at his own little joke.

"No. The- Being the reinclination of the Mortal Instruments. It makes sense." I stumble over the word, not quite sure what I said, but hoping it came out right

"Reinclination? That's not even a- What are you- Do you mean reincarnation?" We both come to a stop, Ryder shooting me a look packed full of confusion and disbelief.

"I  _ think  _ so? I'm still learning. That means rebirth, right?" After a few dirty looks from people moving around us, I steer Ryder toward an alley that seems to be out of the way.

"Yeah, reincarnate means rebirth, but Jack. I don't think that it makes sense. In fact, it makes no sense at all.  The Mortal Instruments were Raziels gifts to us. There is only  _ one  _ set of Mortal Instruments. You can only use the  _ one  _ set,  _ one  _ time. Why would there need to be another set of Mortal Instruments?" He seems almost frantic like he didn't  _ want  _ it to be true.

"But what if there is... What if we  _ are  _ supposed to be another set of Mortal Instruments. What if we are... a... a, uh... fail-safe. Something that goes into action when everything else falls through. None of us got our powers until after the wish was made, yeah?" I question, ignoring the dirty look a passerby sent me.  _ People on this side of town are rude.  _

"I'm nearly positive Kirstin was the only one born before-hand." He concludes, the tension leaving his shoulders as he groans, leaning against the wall across from me. "And she didn't get her powers until a while after."

"Exactly. Our powers match them too. Power transferring, making someone tell the truth, illusions,  _ and  _ toxicity. Not to mention how powerful we are when we combine our powers. We killed  _ Thanos. _ Someone who easily took down most of the Avengers and the Guardians."

"We almost burnt down half a forest in the process."

"We need to talk to Kirstin about this. And Magnus. And everyone else."

"That's... not the worse idea. I'll think about it." I smile, looking at him.

"Good."


	36. 35

Ryder's P.O.V.- The Next Night

I smirk rolling the dark-haired Seelie girl and myself so that she was on her back. She was almost completely naked, her bra and our underwear the only things left on our bodies. I move to attack her neck, sucking, biting, and kissing as she moans.

“Ryder. I need your help.” A voice grunts out from behind me. I spin around, my hand reaching for my blade, quickly calming because Kirstin was standing in front of me.

The calmness didn't last long as I realize the veins on her arm are turning black, an awful cut that was pussing black on her hand, “By the angel! What happened? What do I do?” I put my hands on her face, making her look at me.

“Magnus. I need you to take me to Magnus and to… Ah! To call Cas and tell him that I'm alive. They weren't with me when he attacked. Actually, Magnus first, calling later.” I spin around, pulling on the jeans that were on the floor, pulling my shoes on, and grabbing my hoodie off the shelf, not being able to locate my shirt in a moments notice.

I spin to the Seelie, “I have to go. I'm sorry, my girl is hurt and-” I stop talking flinging the door open and stepping into the hallway. Izzy must've heard the door hit the wall because her door flies open almost instantly.

“For the last time, Ry. Stop your door before it hits the-” I cut her off, pulling on my hoodie as I move toward her.

“Aunt Izzy, Thank the Angel, I need a favor. Can you show this girl out, I need to get Kirstin to Magnus, she was attacked. Okay? Thank you!” I kiss her cheek, quickly wrapping my arm around a clearly in pain Kirstin, teleporting as close to Magnus’ house I.could get. You can portal out, but not in. Can kinda make for a hard time.

I keep Kirstin close as I dodge a crowd of people, pulling the door open and ushering her inside, pulling her back into my side as we move up the stairs. The black veins have spread, working up her neck. When we get to the door, I bang as hard as I possibly can, not caring if I woke the neighbors. _ I wouldn’t even care if I woke the whole damned city as long as Kirstin comes out of this okay. _

“This better be an emergency or I’m sending you to Edom.” Magnus snaps as the door sails open his sneer instantly turning into a look of concern. His hair was extremely disheveled, and he didn’t have a shirt on.  _ Wow, what a trio we are.  _ “Come in, get her on the couch, get her shirt off so I can see the extent of the damage. Alec!” I move her easily, pulling her flannel off, moving to pull the tank top off as she groans in pain, her hand clawing down her now exposed arm, hard enough to draw blood. I grip her wrist, yanking her hand away before she could do more damage.

“You know, this is not how I imagined seeing you topless.” I joke, using humor as a distraction as I pull her tank top over her head. I wince as I see the black veins spreading over her chest, moving down the other arm. I stare at the bloody limb opposite to it, realizing the wounds aren’t healing. I turn around to find Magnus sending a slightly disheveled Alec out the door, closing it as he sends a fire message.

“The fact that you imagined…” She grunts, making a harsh fist. I force her hand to stop making a fist, grabbing her hand in mine. She grips it tightly, biting her lip for a second, “imagined me topless at all proves just how much of a teenage boy you are.” I laugh as she says that, moving so she’s leaning against me as I sit on the couch.

“Or that I’m a guy with a healthy libido thinking about the girl he loves.” I wince as I realize what I say, prepared for a rejection. Thankfully she doesn’t notice, as Magnus starts working magic on her.

“This won’t stop it from spreading, but it will dull the pain, okay?” Kirstin nods, her jaw clenching visibly as her grip on my hand tightens. Magnus’ blue magic works quickly, spreading over her body, quickly disappearing quickly. He then sends another wave falling over her body, watching as her eyes flutter closed. Her body goes completely limp as her breathing evens out, sending her into a deep sleep.

“Why put her to sleep?” I question as I move from the couch carefully laying her down as I grab the phone from her pocket.  _ Better text Cas while we wait. I do not need two pissed off angels on my ass. _

“It slows her heart down, causing less blood to be pumped. That will slow the spread of this stuff.” I glare at the wound on her arm, sending Cas’ message, tucking the phone away. I grab gauze, a wet washcloth, and some medical tape from the bathroom, moving to patch up the cuts. I move to the kitchen to grab a bowl of water and soap. Magnus takes the soap, instead handing me an odd looking mixture, “Clean the cut with this. It’s basically a mix between soap and a magical rubbing alcohol, except it doesn’t harm the tissue. It might need stitches if we don’t get this stuff out of her system soon. It is definitely going to scar though.”

“What is even in her system? Why is it reacting like this?” I question quietly as I begin cleaning the black gash on her hand, watching as the dark-colored stains around the cut disappear, but the cut doesn’t actively change in color.

“It’s demon blood. Someone used demon blood on their weapons when attacking her. The demon blood in her system is fighting her angelic heritage. This leaves her human side left alone, but it’s still taking its toll. She can get hurt like a human, hence the bleeding on her arm. The fighting between the two weakens every system in her body also, meaning it’s a miracle she was able to teleport anywhere. It’s probably why she teleported to you. She trusts you to get her where she needs to go without hurting her, or taking advantage of her injured state. Be proud of that.”

“I wish she would trust me enough with her heart. I don’t understand why she thinks she’s such a bad influence, that she’s ‘no good for me’.” I say it under my breath, not really talking to him, more venting into the open air than anything.

“It’s not too shocking that she has that sort of mentality about herself. Most people say Hunters are brutes and she was raised to believe nearly all angels are evil. Not to mention John Winchester was a Grade A asshole, and she admitted to being raised by him for four years. Her uncles moved her around constantly, and she never bothered to make friends at school, so her first real human connection outside of her family would have been you and your friends. Can you honestly blame her for thinking she’s no good?”

I finish patching up her hand, moving to her arm, “How do you even know all of this?”

“Alec and she had a conversation a few weeks ago, he told me about it. He confronted her about leading you on and she just started rambling. She rambles a lot, I’ve noticed.”

“I guess that explains why she thinks she’s stringing me along. She doesn’t even understand the difference between relationships and friendships. I keep on telling her that it’s okay, she just needs to figure out how she feels, but she doesn’t want to take the chance.” I stare at her for a second, feeling the familiar itch of a person with power nearby, another one besides Magnus and Max, “Nevermind forget I said anything. I think there’s someone at the door.”  _ How are those children still asleep? _

As I finish speaking, there’s a knock on the door. Magnus shoots me a look, moving to answer the door. Catarina Loss walks in quickly, not bothering to speak with him, moving toward Kirstin and me, “You should have called me when you found her like this or found her at all. Instead, I hear she’s injured from Tessa Gray, and that she’s back in the forefront of the Shadow World from a werewolf in the Hunter’s Moon! I swear, if I didn’t know you so well, I would think you were purposefully ignoring me.”

“Catarina-” Magnus begins, being cut off by her.

“Doesn’t matter, I know now. Tessa, Jem, and Alec are on their way now, they should be here in five minutes tops. You better start the potion, Bane.” She didn’t have any bite in her words, her serious voice had a more playful edge to it anyway, though the smile on her face fell quickly as she saw the girl laying on the couch, “She looks so much like Amelia, she could be her twin.”

“Yes, I guess that’s true. Come on, leave the patient, and her dutiful puppy, be” I flip him off as he steers Catarina toward the table. Magnus chuckles as he works on the potion he had been prepping for. I didn’t even realize he was prepping anything until Catarina pointed out the supplies.

The time seems to fly quickly as the warlocks work on the potion, Magnus telling me to watch Kirstin closely, as if I need to be told. The wait quickly ends with a group of three dark-haired people entering the room; two brunettes and Alec. The woman, who I assume is Tessa, hands Magnus a bag, turning to look at Kirstin and I, “This is her?”

“Do you see any other unconscious girls in my living room, Tessa?” Magnus replies, tone witty as he adds the ingredients to the potion. She moves closer to Kirstin. I shift forward jerkily, moving from a sitting position to a crouch, getting in front of Kirstin easily and causing her to quickly step back. I don't quite understand why she seems scared. I quickly figure it out when the familiar twinge in my eyes registers. My eyes were glowing.

“Sorry.” I drop onto my ass with a thump, sliding my legs out until I can easily rest my head between my knees. I stare at the ground, breathing deeply. I twitch slightly when she steps carefully past me. Her power is stronger than a Shadowhunter, and it feels different than anything else I've encountered, “I’m sorry… I just… You’re not a warlock. What are you?” She smiles a kind smile, looking at the brunette man, Jem probably, before letting her eyes settle on me.

“You aren’t just a Shadowhunter, are you Ryder?” I tense up.

“You know my name?” I state dumbly, watching her closely as she moves to watch Kirstin again.

“Of course I know your name, Ryder. I am Tessa Gray, a half warlock, half Shadowhunter. I’m your ancestor, actually. It’s nice to finally meet you.” I sigh.  _ Okay, that makes sense. _

“Okay. That explains why your powers are all… funky feeling. You have the Shadowhunter feel and the Warlock feel blended together. It was uncomfortable not knowing why that was.” Magnus moves around me, tilting Kirstin’s head up as he carefully pours a cup of something down her mouth. When the cup is drained, he hands it to Tessa, letting his magic flow through Kirstin.

“It’s not going to spread fast enough. We have to inject it into her veins, wake her up to let it move through her system faster. Catarina, could you-” Magnus didn’t have to finish her sentence, the blue warlock easily setting to work. I glance around the room to find Alec gone.  _ Probably taking care of the kids. _

“On it. Tessa, will you help me with this?” She starts naming off a list of things she needs to collect from around Magnus’ house. Jem walks up from behind me, his shadow looming over me, brown eyes examining Kirstin. Neither of us speaks as we watch the Warlocks do their magic, literally and figuratively.

Catarina was getting the medical part ready, with Tessa’s help. Magnus was checking the progress of the drink, saying it dilutes the blood slightly, but the veins are still a deep black, though they aren’t spreading any more.

I watch as they quickly gather the extra devices they need, opening Kirstin’s mouth to place a conspicuous peace of leather between her teeth. They sit her up slightly, propping her up on pillows. Finally, Catarina injects the needle into her skin, watching as the odd colored liquid disappears into her body.

Tessa was the one to wake her up, telling me to hold her down to the best of my abilities. Her body shoots up, a scream erupts from the lips, her body attempting to shoot off of the couch. I push her down, keeping her still as Catarina pulls the needle out. She continues to thrash, biting on the leather as the darkened veins begin to lighten, then disappear completely.  _ It’s working. _

After maybe fifteen minutes, her body goes nearly limp. The veins were back to the normal… human-looking way, her creamy white skin on display for everyone in the room. I carefully tug a blanket from over the back of the couch carefully draping it over her nearly sleeping form.

I kiss her forehead, her eyes fluttering closed as her breathing evens out. I sit on the ground, my head resting against her hip as I face the adults in the room. I let my eyes flutter closed, letting the tiredness hit me now that I know Kirstin is safe. I guess Magnus was not liking the idea of me sleeping here, if the harsh hit to the arm was any indication, “You are not sleeping anywhere near this couch. Up, Up. To the guest room with you. We’ve got everything under control out here, we’ll watch over her. Go.” Not having any energy to protest, or the chance to, I wander down the hall. I open the guest room door, plopping face first on the bed and promptly passing out.

  
  



	37. 36

Kirstin’s P.O.V.- Present Day

My eyes flutter open to a woman’s face right above me, cold blue-green eyes staring down at me. I let out a yelp, shooting up into a sitting position on the couch. I don’t hit anything on the way up, thank god, but I nearly scream as the woman speaks from behind me, “Oh look… She’s awake. About  _ time,  _ I’ve been just  _ dying  _ to talk to you.” I spin around coming face to face with the Blackthorn woman in front of me, standing up in the process. I grab my blade from my boot, throwing it at her.

Proceeding to watch it fly right through her, and dig into the wall with no blood in sight, “What the fuck? How are you here? Why am I seeing you?”

A harsh laugh erupts from her lips, her petite frame leaning against the couch, “At least you know you’re seeing things. Or, think you’re seeing things. What, no love for mommy dearest?” The barely-eighteen-year-old fake pouts, laughing as I glare. I move to grab the knife, tucking it away and wandering into the kitchen. Amelia follows me, easily passing over the table.

I find Magnus, Alec, Ryder, and Clary all huddled around the island in the middle of the kitchen, drinking coffee, “Thank you for saving my life, Magnus. How long until the side effects wear off?”

Magnus scoffs, “Good morning to you too. You’re welcome, and there are no side effects. Part of the magic deal. Why? Are you still feeling funny?” Magnus’ makeup was done, a satin robe on instead of his normal fashionable outfits.

“Yeah, Darling Daughter, are you still feeling funny?” I glance toward Amelia, who was leaning on the islands next to Magnus, a sickly-sweet smile on her face.

I shake my head, “Nope, not at all.” Clary offers me a cup of coffee as all five of us fall into senseless chatter, Amelia perched on the table next to me.

#

“What is the point of owning an expensive phone, if you never answer the damn thing?” Bucky questions me, laughing as I flip him off, maneuvering around his bulky frame to grab a bag of chips.

“I do answer it, just not when you call. I don’t have your number, so I won’t pick up. I only answer contacts I recognize, or if the number calls three times back-to-back. That means it’s serious.” I rip open the bag, offering some to Bucky after I shove three into my mouth. A laughing Amelia runs her hand down Bucky’s jaw.

“He’s hot. Damn, you should hit that. Oh wait, he’s, like, a thousand years old. Don’t hit that. Don’t even think about hitting that. Unless you’re into that kind of thing?” Amelia smiles, her hand trailing down the Bucky’s chest, squeezing his pectoral. I stare blankly at her face, schooling my features.

“What are you staring at? You aren’t even listening to me.”

I shake my head, taking a step back, “I am. I swear I am. I just…”

Bucky laughs, “It’s okay, I understand. I actually have to go, so… talk another time then?” I nod enthusiastically, forcing a smile onto my face, my eyes flicking between Amelia and Bucky.  _ Holy shit, I’m going nuts. _

“Yes, yes you are. Maybe they should’ve checked your family history, you know, before letting you into the public. I was insane, your dad is insane, big brother Sammy was insane, Dean’s just… Brain dead, really. All that alcohol must have fucked him up in the upstairs brain. I mean, really, how many times can people cross you before you learn your lesson? I learned mine with you. A bit too late, if we’re bein’ honest. I drank that Lake Lynn water and…  _ God,  _ it felt  _ amazing  _ to be numb.” I growl, setting the chip bag on the counter and storming out of the room. Unfortunately, she followed me all the way down to the empty lab. I smile, glad for Peter getting Tony out of his lab, thus keeping Bruce out because he won’t come in here without Tony.

I grab the needle, plopping into the chair, pushing myself until I grab the tie off the desk.  _ Thank God for a messy Tony.  _ I tie it around my arm, stabbing myself in the arm, pulling some blood out into the needle and the attached container. I easily switch the containers, taking three out before removing the needle.

After I finish setting up the testing, I turn to Amelia, who was leaning over the machine, “Why? Why become a junkie on  _ Lake Lynn  _ water? Why not heroin, or adrenaline, or  _ God  _ any actual drug?”

Amelia leans across the table, laying to stare at the ceiling, “Your father is why. He gave me a glass a day, every day, for the first three months of my pregnancy. He was trying to kill you. Didn’t work, obviously, but it did feel amazing. I did try the other drugs after he disappeared, Kirstin. I don’t know if that’s better or worse, but nothing… absolutely  _ nothing  _ could give me the high that that water did. Trust me, I even O.D.ed on heroin one time. You brought me back, you know. Needed me. It felt nice, to be needed for once.”

“Alright, a little too deep…” I trail off, thinking for a moment, “Uh… Okay, let’s start off with the basics. Why are you here?”

She laughs, “Because you are crazy, duh.”

“And you know things I don’t?” I question, checking the progress on the blood testing.

“I know everything your mom knows. I’m not her, I’m partially her, but I’m mostly a figment of your imagination.”

I shake my head, turning to face her, “What- What does that even mean?”

She groans, “My brothers raised an idiot.” She stares at the ceiling for a moment longer, sitting up to face me, “I am… essentially, your imagination. Except, your powers, when whatever set you off did, connected to my soul- the little bit that is left on Earth- and used it to form the me that is standing in front of you.”

I nodded carefully, “Alright, yeah. I think I get that. What are… What are the rules? Like, what can I ask you? Do you know more than you would tell me? What can you answer? Can you lie?”

“Okay, damn. One question at a time, little Kitty. Uh… I can only answer questions that we both know the answers to, even if it’s in your subconscious or something you don’t remember knowing. I don’t know anything after I died unless it’s from your perspective. I can answer anything, I can tell you I don’t know if I don’t know. Like if I can lie to you, I don’t know. I don’t think so, do you lie to yourself often?”

“Yeah. All the time, actually. That’s… all I’ve got. For now anyway. There had to have been something in that blood, I’m not crazy.” I push myself back toward the machine, finished now.

“You sure it’s your fault? Your buddy Mason seems adamant on being able to use his powers, and you seem adamant to keep him sane. Maybe he used a bit too much, splurged or something. Maybe he even did it on purpose.” Amelia hops down from the table, leaning down to my level, “Anybody would be willing to get rid of you.”

“Shut up, you stupid bitch. FRI, what you got?”

“There appears to be nothing wrong with your blood, Ms. Black. Anything that might’ve been in your system has clearly been washed out. Should I contact Mr. Stark?” I jump out of my seat, grabbing my stuff off of the floor and desk.

“No. No, don’t do that FRIDAY. I… Never tell Tony anything about this. I’m going to talk to Mason, maybe he can figure out what’s wrong… They should be back by now.” I turn to stalk out of the room, Amelia easily matching my pace.

“Or maybe so you can find out that he hates your guts. The only reason he saved you, was self-preservation, Sweety. You know it, I know it.” I spin to face her, easily coming to a stop,

“What part of my mind do you come from, because I highly doubt it’s a good part. Whatever this is, I’m going to get rid of you and shove this shit back into the bad part,” I huff, stomping into the elevator, Amelia smirking as she follows, “and out of my goddamn ear.”

#

I move to knock on Rose’s door, only for it to fly open, Mason standing on the other side, “I already have an idea. Hurry up, I can feel the soul weighing you down…” I walk past him, hooking my bag onto the coat rack next to the door, keeping my hands wrapped in the long sleeves of my sweater. I move into the kitchen, hearing voices.

Rose and Lisa are looking through books, talking, when the blond looks up, “Yeah I like that i- Oh!” She nearly falls out of her seat when she sees me. The guys behind them instantly shoot up, moving toward them.

“Wow, that makes a girl feel better about herself. I mean I know I look like shit, but damn.” Amelia’s laughter is right in my ear.

“At least you're honest. Oh, how about this one?” She nods to Lisa, “She’s hot. I would do her, easily. Too old for you, care to butt out for a while so I can? Oh, right, I’m only a sixteenth of a soul… Damn, I would have loved to have nasty, hot, passionate sex with her. I mean, I haven’t got any since your father, and he wasn’t exactly the best in the sheets. I mean, he was tiny and-”

“Shut up!” I snap, turning to face her. I wince turning to face everybody, my teeth digging into my lip. All of them were looking at me with different expressions, most of them shocked, one amused, and two, three including Mason, a mix of worried and sympathetic, “Uh… yeah, that's a… that's a new…  _ thing _ we need to figure out. I'm seeing things. It has something to do with a piece of a soul. My powers connected to it, or something. Doesn't really matter, something made me snap, made my mind go to shit. Now I have a ghost pissing me off.”

Rose nods, standing up and grabbing the phone, “I'm calling Sam and Dean, this soul shit is their domain, not mine.”

I move quickly, attempting to grab the phone, “No. Please don't tell them. I… call Jody, Avery, Claire, Donna… anybody except them. They are busy, and I don't want them to be worried.” I stare at her, holding back tears.  _ Stop. Don't fucking start Kirstin!  _ I blink them away taking a step back and never losing eye contact with her.

After a few minutes of a completely silent staring contest, she sighs, dialing a number, “Fine. I'll call Claire, she's still in town, right?” I nod slightly, walking to the living room with Mason hot on my heels. I sigh, sitting down.

“Claire? That's the Barbie, right? She's really skinny, maybe you should try that.” I roll my eyes at Amelia.  _ Already am, Mom, thanks,  _ “Really though, do you? The whole shebang? I mean I know you starve yourself, do you throw up too? I'm just curious now, does it work? Does it make you feel skinny enough for Ryder? Pretty enough? Good enough?”

“What's she saying now?” I shake my head, Amelia's voice nearly drowning him out.  _ I need to be somewhere loud. _

“It doesn't matter. I'm going someplace loud, to drown her out. Just please call me when you have a lead?” He nods, standing up and kissing my forehead, “Please don't tell Jackie. I don't want anybody to worry, him included.”

Mason sighs, running his hand over my still-bandaged arm, moving it to look at my palm, “I won't lie to him, but I'll avoid telling him as much as possible. I won't lie, if he asks what's going on I'm going to tell him but… but I'll hold off as long as I can. One sign of this getting worse, as small as it may be, I'm telling everyone. Got it? Good.” I kiss his cheek, not bothering with a response as I turn and leave.

_ I might’ve misjudged this idea a little bit.  _ I think as I maneuver through the crowds of people trying to get where they need to go.  _ I’ll be labeled a freak if I start talking to her here, the subway is too full and the cabs are too empty.  _ I crinkle my eyebrows, digging through my bag until I find a Bluetooth earpiece. I stick it in my ear and begin to the subway.

“Aww, I love it when crazies are smart. Smart crazies are the best crazies, don’t you think Kirstin?” Amelia boops my nose as she turns to walk in the crowd, “I mean, of course you do, you are one of them.”

I sigh, “So you’re basically the dark thoughts. The ones I shove down. Somehow, when this shit happened, my dark thoughts connected to something you put a piece of your soul into, right?” I sneer at someone who shoots me a dirty look, “Ever heard of LARPing?”

The woman rolls her eyes, quickly moving away from me. Amelia laughs, “Hostile much? If you wanna talk about this, fine. I guess, yes, technically I am the epitome of your dark thoughts. And yes, something has a piece of my soul in it. No, I do not plan on telling you. I like it here, it’s fun. I get to see things I never really saw before, I get to see it through your eyes too. I get to see  _ you _ I never got the chance, outside of the ultrasounds Loss would do. God, you were… you were dependant on me in every way. It’s weird to think that it’s been nearly seventeen years since you were born, it feels like I went to sleep with you being born and woke up the next day to you being nearly an adult.” I groan, looking at the group of people around me before the road. I walk over, hailing a cab.

“Can you take me to Pandemonium please?” I ask when the cabbie asks me. Then we were off.

“Wow, a club? It’s barely eight at night, and you’re going to a club?” I examine the contents of my bag, trying to find my phone in the mess.

“Magnus owns the place, he plans on being there tonight. I can ask him what you put your soul in.” Amelia laughs, getting comfortable in the seat next to me, kicking her feet up onto the seat.

“He doesn’t know. There is more than one warlock in New York, Kirstin.” I nod, grabbing my phone. I smile as I see two messages from Ryder, a little giggle escaping my lips, a warm feeling spreading through my stomach as I start a conversation with him. I then frown as I realize I shouldn’t be that happy to be talking to him, “Aww, that boyfriend of yours must be cute. Oh wait, he’s not your boyfriend. You’re so fucked up in the head that you can’t even recognize feelings properly. Even then, the sexual thoughts alone should make it obvious to you; it does make it obvious to you. You are just  _ scared.  _ And insecure, and a miserable half-breed that doesn’t deserve to feel like that-”

“You are basically two separate personalities, I swear. One second you’re talking about wanting to take care of me, the next telling me what a miserable person I am, picking at my faults and bad qualities. Bad habits are bad but habitual, okay? I really don’t need you pointing them out to me, or smacking my emotions around. So shut up, sit back, and let me enjoy my fucking night please!” I snapped harshly, pretending to hang up my Bluetooth device when the cabbie glances back at me.

Amelia huffs, pouting like a scolded child, “You don’t have to be so rude. Jeez.”


	38. 37

Jack’s P.O.V.- Present day

I smile awkwardly at Gabe as he hands me the leather cuff. It had Enochian symbols on them, so they could block out my powers, “Do I wanna know why you want these?” I laugh slightly looking down at the table.

I reach into my back pocket, pulling out a picture of the anti-possession tattoo, “If I don't have my powers, I can get the tattoo. Kirstin has one, so I figured it would be a good idea. I figured you would have one because Rowena told me you're a Sub in bed. Whatever that means?” The archangel in front of me turns bright red, stuttering slightly.

“W-What? You really shouldn't listen to anything the redhead says, she is a witch after all. A-and like you're one to talk, it's obvious who's the dom in your relationship, and it sure as hell ain't you.” I laugh slightly, looking at the table.

“Must run in the family, then. Thanks, I'm gonna see if Kirstin will take me to get a tattoo. Or maybe she'll be the one to put it on me, Tony bought her one of those tattoo things for her fifteenth birthday, she’s really good at it.” He rolls his eyes at that, not giving any other verbal response. With that, I turn and leave the room, nearly running into a blonde girl in the process.

“Sorry,” I mutter quietly, turning toward the opposite end of the hallway. The brown-eyed girl quickly stops me.

“You’re Jack Kline right? The son of Lucifer?” I tense, turning to face her, going on the defensive.

“What, gonna tell me I’m a monster? Too late, I’ve already gotten the message.” I turn to walk away, only to be stopped by her once again.

“Woah, no reason to do that, I was just going to ask if what we’ve heard about your cousin is true. She’s Amelia Blackthorn’s daughter, right? And Amelia is John Winchester’s kid?” She takes a step forward, her wary eyes searching my face.  _ She’s probably trying to figure out if I’m gonna lie or not. _

“Yes, Kirstin is Amelia’s daughter, Amelia is John’s daughter, and I need to go find Kirstin. Thanks for not calling me a monster, by the way.” I start to walk away and get pretty far this time before she responds.

“Yeah well, any Shadowhunter assuming you are going to be evil are hypocrites. Most of their relatives were in the Circle, and they let the daughter of Valentine Morgenstern save us all. They’ve learned their lesson that not everyone turns out like their parents. I’m Emma, in case you were wondering.” I turn to say something only for her to disappear inside the room I just left. I wander off to Kirstin’s room, a smile never leaving my face.

I move to stand in the doorway of her bedroom, catching the end of her sentence, “-do you ever shut up? Honestly, all you ever do is-”

I look around the room, not finding anyone else in there, “Who are you talking to?”

Kirstin jumps slightly, putting her hand up to her ear randomly, “Oh! Uh, I’m g-g-gonna have to call you back, bye!” She throws something on the bed spinning around to face me, “Hi! Sorry, I was just talking to… Bucky! Yeah, I was talking to Bucky, sorry. You need something?”

I hold up the paper and the leather cuff, smiling awkwardly, “Do you think you could give me the anti-possession tattoo? I know I need it, and I figured I'd give you something to do. You wanna?”

She glances to the other side of the room for a moment before nodding, “Yeah, yes, sure. Why not? We’ve gotta go to Tony’s though. Anything else you wanna do?”

“Can we stop by Topanga’s? Maybe get some ice cream or something?” I question.

“I mean I… umm, I already ate but sure, that is a yes. Come on.” She grabs a large AC/DC shirt, pulling it over her black tank top.  _ That tank top is really pretty, why does she wear shirts over it? I mean, it isn’t super small, why cover it up? Why does all this family wear a whole bunch of layers?  _ “Jackie?”

“Yeah?” I question looking back up at her from the ground I was previously staring at. She makes a turn around gesture with the hand, nodding briefly to her pajama shorts, “Oh, right, sorry.” I spin around to face the wall, closing the door as I do.

After a few jumping sounds, she laughs, “You can turn around now.” I spin around to watch as she yanks on a pair of combat boots, jumping on one foot and nearly falling over in the process. She finishes quickly, grabbing her phone, turning to face me, holding out her arm to link elbows.

“We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz!” She sings, hopping slightly as we head out of her room and through the hallways, picking up two new boys along the way.

#

“I have the power!” Kirstin yells jokingly as she jumps on Peter’s back, throwing her arm in the air.

“For the honor of Grayskull!” Peter adds, using one arm to hook onto her leg, the other flying in the air to mimic her.

“You guys gender-swapped it, but okay. It  _ is _ 2018\. Hey, Jack, new kids.” Tony easily switches from talking to his son and niece to talking to me. The black haired boy nods, gray eyes looking around the room instead of at Tony. The blonde boy gives an awkward smile. I smile, waving slightly, Steve waving back as he enters the room, shooting the two in the middle of the room an odd look. Kirstin jumps off of Peter’s back, joking about being the He-Man to his She Ra. Whatever that means.

“Not to be rude, but I wasn’t expecting you guys to be here tonight?” Steve makes the statement sound more like a question than a comment.

“Oh, I’m just here to use my tattoo machine. Jack needs the anti-possession rune, and Ty just decided to tag along, which of course meant Kit was coming. The blonde one is Kit Herondale, the black haired boy is Ty Blackthorn.”  _ So that’s their names, okay. _

“Herondale as in your lover boy? Nevermind that, Blackthorn? As in-” Tony stood up moving toward the duo, only for Kirstin to intercept him.

“Yes, as in my mom. We’ll be in the tattoo area, have FRIDAY get ahold of me if you need me. To the elevator!” I laugh as she takes off, easily running after her, the three other teenagers in the room following us. We all hustle into the elevator, easily fitting as the door closes and FRIDAY takes us to the floor we need.

She easily moves down the halls, coming to a stop at a door, opening it carefully to reveal a large room with beautiful paintings on the walls, a tattoo chair off to the side of the room, a guitar on a stand, a piano on the other side of the room with the guitar, and a whole section of the room strictly for photography, even having a red room attached for when Kirstin uses film. There was also a little section on the other side, right next to the windows, it had a large cozy couch against the wall, positioned so the arm would be up against the window. That was Avery’s reading nook. Next to the couch, running parallel to the windows, were small chairs and a table that was positioned to look out on New York City. Kirstin claimed it was the best view in the whole building, her and Steve often spending hours drawing it.

Kirstin outstretches her arms, spinning to face us and walking backward, “I call this the Void because no one ever wants to leave. We got music for Mason, Andi, Riley, and Lucas, a reading nook for Avery, Zay, Smackle, and Farkle, tattoo area for me and whoever wants a tattoo, a drawing area for Steve, Maya, and me, and last but not least, a photography area for Peter, Zay, and me. Then we have the labs downstairs for Smackle, Farkle, Peter, and me. I have a lot of hobbies...”

“Wow.” Kit says quietly moving toward the camera area, fiddling with one of the old cameras there. I move to sit on the tattoo chair as Kirstin gets the tattoo gun set up, along with the ink. I carefully place the cuff around my wrist, pulling my shirt off and watching as Ty examines the piano.

Kirstin is quick to go to work on my chest, tattooing the design perfectly as the other two boys wander around the room, Peter staying in the doorway, only coming in when he saw Kit messing with the cameras. He hands the Polaroid camera to Kit nodding over to Kirstin and I. Kit easily moves over taking a picture of us as Kirstin finishes up.

Ty moves over to join us, Kirstin's laughter spreading through the room, “Do you think you could give me a tattoo?” Ty questions, causing Kit to spin around and face him.

“Really? You want a tattoo?” The blonde boy questions incredulously. Ty simply nods turning to Kirstin, who was already sketching something out on a piece of paper.

“How does this look?” She slides the finished product over, “Any specific colors?” It was a name and a word in a different language, a rune in between them, surrounded by a ring of thorns. For all the details, it was a pretty small tattoo, could easily fit on his shoulder if he wanted, but he chose to.get the tattoo on the bottom right of his abdomen, a little above the waistband of his pants.

“Green and black,” Ty says quietly, easily sitting in the chair, pulling his shirt off.

“‘Green to mend our broken hearts.’ I like it.” She moves to set up the ink, cleaning her gun before beginning to set up

“It was actually Livvy's favorite color. Not because she had a broken heart, she just thought it was a beautiful color.” She nods, beginning to go to work on him. I step out heading to the elevator. I pull the cuff off watching the tattoo carefully. When it doesn't disappear, I shove the leather into my pocket, stepping out of the elevator and heading toward the kitchen.

I dig through the cupboards, looking for something to eat. I get to the third cupboard when a voice startles me, “You need to tell Kirstin to answer her phone more often. I’ve been trying to get ahold of her all week.” Bucky moves next to me as he speaks, grabbing a cup and moving to get water.

I pause in my searching, turning to give him a confused look, “Didn’t you get ahold of her today?”

He gives me an annoyed look, “I wouldn’t be complaining to you about her not answering if I talked to her today. I would have dealt with it with her.”

I let my hands fall to the counter, leaning against it opposite to the brunette, “She told me she was talking to you earlier. Why would she lie about that?”

He shrugs, finishing his glass of water and setting it in the sink, “Couldn’t tell ya’. Might want to ask her.” with that, he exits the kitchen, leaving me to my thoughts.

  
  
  



	39. 38

Kirstin’s P.O.V.- Present Day

I watch the knife in my hand twist slowly, drawing blood from the nonexistent wound on my palm, slowly digging deeper into my palm, watching the crimson liquid stain my palm, beginning to create a puddle to big for my hand. It drips to the ground slowly, Amelia's voice loud in my ears, “Does that make you feel better about yourself?  _ Pathetic. _ That's what you are. You're pathetic, you're just looking for attention, if you really wanted to end it, you would have plunged that blade straight into your chest.”

She was perched next to me in the rafters of the training room, easily hidden out of sight- and more importantly, hearing range- but still able to see everything. I stare at my bloodied hand, sounding as numb as I feel when I speak, “It wouldn't do anything. These won't kill me. Trust me, I’ve tried. The only thing that happens is ruining a perfectly good shirt with a hole, and a whole lot of blood. Besides, it's not about dying. It's about feeling something. ‘ _ I‘d rather feel pain than nothing at all. _ ”

She snorts slightly, moving closer to watch me dig the knife deeper, “Which poet said that?”

“Not a poet, actually. It's from  _ Pain _ by Three Days Grace. A rock band. Sounded fitting,” I hear the door open, causing me to lower my voice.  _ Just in case, _ “don't you agree?”

Her laughter is loud in the quiet room, “Sure, why not? Have your friends found a way to get rid of me yet?”

I roll my eyes, pulling the blade away from my hand, which now was nearly drenched in blood. I wipe it on my jeans, sliding it back into my holster, “You're still here, aren't you? I don't think they have but I haven't spoken to them since telling them you existed three weeks ago. Give ‘em some more time, you'll be gone eventually.”

The room falls into an eerie silence for about two minutes. Then a loud anguished screech came from her lips, sounding like there were multiple voices screaming at once. The noise sends me tumbling off of the beam I was sitting on, landing harshly on the ground with a crack, pushing myself to a sitting position quickly. The room was empty still, the door opening must've been in my head.

Amelia's furious form appears in front of me, breathing heavily. She moves forward, grabbing my hair harshly. Over the past two weeks, we had established that she can touch me, but I can't touch or hurt, her. Which, let me tell you, sucks. “You can't get  _ rid  _ of _ me.  _ I won't  _ let  _ you! I'm here, forever and always, like a good  _ mother _ should be.” She lets go of my hair, fixing her unblemished outfit, before sitting on the ground next to me.

I hear the bone of my leg snap into place, earning a sigh out of my lips, the door opening at the same time. Ryder strides into the room, a smirk plastered on his face as he plops down next to me, “Hey there, Girlie. Care to fight me?”

I stare at a seemingly annoyed Amelia for a few more seconds, slowly turning to face him, “Uh, yeah. Why not?” I stand up wiping the blood on my hand onto my jeans, shaking my previously broken leg for a second.

He laughs, easily standing up and moving into a nearly languid stance, spreading his arms out in a ‘ _ come at me’  _ type gesture, “Whenever you're ready, Princess.” I instantly recoil, taking a few steps back. A look of realization dawns on his face, “Oh  _ shit!  _ Sorry, I didn't think about that, I am so sorry.” He takes a step forward.

I study the boy in front of me for a second, taking a step forward, so there's barely any space between us. I let my hand trail over his jaw for a moment, examining the remorse in his eyes.

I draw my hand back, punching him harshly, quickly wrapping my right leg around his- his right, my left- hitting the back of his knee in the process of yanking my leg back toward me. I hit his chest with my other hand, watching as he drops to the ground with a loud thud, “You're forgiven. Now, are we gonna fight, or are you gonna continue taking a nap down there?”

He laughs, using his arms to bend his body into the air, moving back slightly before pushing himself forward, the momentum causing him to land in a crouch, a graceful move that looked right out of a movie. He spins to take my legs out from under me.

I evade the move easily, watching as he rises at the end if the spin, moving to punch his chest. He blocks my punch, pulling me forward and kicking me in the stomach. I break my arm free, recovering from the blow quickly, moving to kick him in the chest, going for a sidekick. He catches my foot, twisting at an uncomfortable angle, causing me to look at the wall that was originally behind me, and still going.

I smirk, using the twisting of the leg to.my advantage. I use my other leg to push off the ground, flipping in the direction he was twisting, kicking him in the head in the process. He releases my foot, so I spin and punch him in the chest a few times, him blocking most of them.

The fighting continues for a while, a back and forth of power, neither of us falling to the ground for a long,  _ long  _ time. Eventually, out of stupid luck, I got him pinned to the ground, his legs trapped under my feet as I sit on his waist. I jokingly point my blade at his chest, “Where would you like me to carve the word loser at, Sir?”

He smiles, playing along, “Well, change the word to your initials, then you could put it anywhere you like Darlin’.” I laugh as Amelia's presence behind me is made known, her chest pressing up against my back as her hands snaked down my arms.

“Stab him through the chest!” She whispers venomously, her tone vindictive as she moves my hands toward his chest.

“What? No!” I yelp, attempting to move my arms away, only for them to be stuck in place, my struggle only shifting them slightly. The blade was pointed directly above his heart, one heavy push and it wouldn't be beating anymore.

“You don't need him! Love is a weakness! Especially for people like us. Men don't deserve us, they deserve to die.” Her voice begins to echo again, the rooms light flickering as she forces my arms down. I put all my strength into pulling them back up, but a blossom of red begins to appear on his shirt, the blade easily passing through the thin fabric.

“No, I don't want to! No! He doesn't deserve it… I don't love him, stop!” Tears start streaming down my face as I try to yank.the blade away. Ryder's eyes widen, never leaving my face as I speak.  _ He can tell… _

“Liar! You're lying. We all know it. Stop fighting this Kirstin, it's for the best. All he's going to do is hurt you! Kill him, he won't even know it's because of me. He'll die thinking you're crazy, just like Michael did. He watched me die, thought I was insane, then went along and let my brothers kill him. He got what he deserved, now it's Blondie’s turn!” The blade starts sinking deeper as I tug. Ryder stares down at his chest, his eyes turning gold. My body flies across the room, hitting the wall before sliding to the ground.

I stare at him as the room around me turns back to normal, Amelia staring at me, clearly pissed, standing behind the blond boy as his eyes fade to his gold-green color. He stands, staring at the blade in his hand, “You just… What the  _ fuck  _ was  _ that _ ? The whole thing… if you were that angry at me… What else is here? Why did-” I shoot up off of the floor easily teleporting out of the room as I begin to sob harder. I land in a dark alleyway, three blocks away, curling up into a ball on the dirty ground.

I don't hear the footsteps walking up to me, or the man’s breathing, but I definitely feel it when he shoves something over my mouth, a heavy chemical on the cloth placed there, stronger than what a normal kidnapper would use, a mixture I've only ever smelled once before.  _ He knows what I am _ . My vision starts to blur as a male voice whispers in my ear, “It's alright, Princess. I’ll make everything better. She won't hurt you anymore. Shh…” My eyes roll up in the back of my head, everything going black.

  
  



	40. 39

_ Sophomore Year _

_ “Come on, you already did it in Middle School, why not do it again?” Andi questions, dropping into the seat across from her sister, a lemonade in her hand. Kirstin stares blankly at the cup of… weird liquid in front of her, the group around her discussing an art show for the high school. They were trying to talk Maya into presenting her artwork during the show. Maya was refusing, saying that since she already did it once, she has no reason to do it again. They were at Topanga’s, like usual. _

_ Mason was quietly sipping a chocolate milkshake, watching the madness unfold, his eyes constantly moving between said madness, and the quiet friend he made last year. The madness being Riley Matthews personal mission to get Maya to do things that should make her happy. Kirstin didn’t understand how an art show would make someone happy, she would be terrified if her work was shown. Of course, nobody really cared if her artistic abilities were recognized; her uncles and the Avengers were too busy saving people all the time to actually notice and Avery was too wrapped up in her first important relationship with Andi to even notice, let alone care, about her cousin’s… anything, really. Not that Kirstin blamed her; this was the first time Avery has dated a girl, the first time she admitted that she wasn’t into guys, it was big. Her dad, nor her uncles, (except Tony, and only because he caught the two in a compromising position) didn’t know which didn’t seem to affect her that much. She only talked to Sam, Cas, and her father on the phone maybe once a month and this wasn’t something you’d say over the phone, at least not in her opinion, (she didn’t want to make anyone else feel uncomfortable if they did think it was okay to say over the phone.) and she was trying to get them to visit. Avery had every reason to be a little caught up in it, in Kirstin’s opinion. _

_ Mason, who she didn’t really think knew her all that well, didn’t notice, and obviously, Andi didn’t catch on. So Kirstin would sit and listen to them argue about how Maya was an amazing artist and she should want to be recognized, a pit growing in her stomach. She wanted that. Wanted someone to notice she had a talent, notice when she was sad, or when she was really happier, to notice that most of her smiles were forced. She wanted to be noticed, wanted to feel like she was special. Not different, not weird, not ‘Tony Stark’s Emotionally Unstable Neice’, or ‘The Baby Winchester’, she wanted to be seen as Kirstin Black, who had talents of her own, not living in the shadow of everyone in her family. Of course, that was nearly impossible when the perfect Ava-Mary Winchester was in the same area code as her. The second she arrives, Kirstin doesn’t stand a chance; Avery is funny, adorable, she dresses nice and acts the way a normal teenage girl is expected to act. She reads, she writes, she gets good grades, she likes to party but is loved by all the parents. She never had her mother and grew up in the Hunting life, but came out an almost completely normal person, unlike Kirstin. She can charm her way through any situation, just like her dad. Kirstin loved her cousin, she truly did, with all of her heart, but she was but a shadow compared to the sun that was Ava-Mary Winchester. _

_ “I don’t really think she has to do anything, Riles. It’s her art, it’s her decision if she wants people to see it.” Ryder states, watching the blank-faced Kirstin stare at her odd drink. He didn’t think she exactly knew what it was, but she swore she’s going to try every drink on the menu and has so far kept her promise, always paying for everyone’s drinks, despite the protest that Riley can get free drinks since her mom owned the place, and everybody else had plenty of money. He was slightly tapping the table, realizing that the whole conversation could blow back on him. They knew he could draw, he had painted Avery a welcome home picture when she got back from Kansas that summer. He had ended up buying Kirstin art supplies after seeing her doodle in one of her notebooks, though he just left it as an anonymous gift in her locker. _

_ Kirstin had always thought it was some sort of fan, not that many people were fans of the black haired girl. Most people didn’t even think she was related to Tony, making it up to get money. This was because the test results of Avery’s blood test was posted on the internet, but Kirstin’s was nowhere to be seen. _

_ Ryder understood that some pictures were private if the fact that Kirstin never told anybody she could draw, or even showed anyone in the group a drawing was anything to go by. He kept most of the pictures he drew to himself, to keep his Shadowhunting life away from his mundane life, something that was decided when his parents agreed about him going to Mundane school while training as a Shadowhunter, and having tutoring on the weekends and breaks. He got that art was more about channeling emotions, rather than painting something to please a crowd, even if most artists have the ability to do both. _

_ “Yeah well, I might’ve… already signed you up?” The statement came out of her mouth as more of a question. Now, Riley Matthews looked the part of Tony Stark’s relative, even if there was absolutely no relation between the two. She had big, brown eyes, though hers were full of hope and wonder and every nice thing you could possibly think of, long, curly, chestnut hair. She was maybe a few inches taller than Kirstin, which didn’t make her any less scared of the black haired girl, who seemed to have a terrifying air about her. _

_ “That’s a huge invasion of privacy, Riley.” Maya tensed up as Kirstin opens her mouth, spinning to face her, her eyes dark with an unreadable emotion. Kirstin tenses up, instantly feeling threatened. She tends to say the first thing that pops into her head, most of the time regretting it as soon as it happens. _

_ Everybody in the group seems to freeze; Kirstin had never actively taken a part in group discussions, opting to only talk to Mason, Andi, and Avery. Ryder tried to talk to her but ended up only being able to watch from afar, which made him feel super creepy. They kind of stared at the two girls, Kirstin perched cross-legged on the bench, Maya sitting on one of the soft chairs that are seen as soon as people enter the establishment, “What did you just say?” Maya speaks slowly, no emotion in her voice. _

_ “I just mean that you know. I just… I’m not quite sure how this dynamic works yet, but I know if anybody signed me up for something like this without my permission or knowledge, I wouldn’t be too happy. I don’t know if this is normal for you but…” _

_ “Well, no offense, but I say your opinion isn’t quite established. You’ve been at this school since Freshman year, have been hanging out with us since week two, and we still know nothing about you.” Zay slightly comments, a light joking tone to his voice that made it clear he wasn’t being rude, just simply debating to debate. _

_ “It would probably help if you actually asked. No offense to you guys but not everybody just throws themselves out there like you guys do. Some people aren’t exactly… sure how people will react to them.” Kirstin’s voice is equally joking, though the heaviness of what she said seemed to carry a heaviness with it. She laughs slightly, “And I’d say my opinion is pretty solid, I know how I’d react, as my own person, and that makes my argument very accurate because there is nothing to truly prove it invalid. Just like if Maya were to say that she’s okay with it because that’s how her and Riley’s friendship works, even if she doesn’t have prior experience to something like that, it would still be valid in her own mind. This is more of a personality based debate than a factual one, meaning everyone will have their own personal reactions.” Kirstin unfolds her legs as she speaks, not really paying attention to what she says as she picks up her drink, taking a large sip after she finishes. _

_ Everybody falls silent for a completely different reason, except for three people; Avery, Andi, and Mason. Mason starts laughing really hard, nearly spitting out his milkshake in the process, Andi and Avery both making loud cheering noises. _

_ “Damn girl, why haven’t you spoke up sooner?” Zay questions, laughing quietly as he fiddles with the straw in his smoothie, a scar on his arm standing out to Kirstin’s eyes. It looked like a claw mark, but she just stowed the image in her mind for later. _

_ She shrugs leaning forward, “Never had a reason to. But trust me, beating your ass in a debate is one damn good reason to speak up, so I’m definitely glad I waited.” Zat wolf-whistled as the others laugh, Maya easing up slightly, “Plus, I really believe that Maya should get a say if her paintings, or drawings, or any artwork that she’s made, is shown somewhere.” _

_ The second blue-eyed girl sighs, running a hand through her blond hair, seeming to ponder for a second. Riley starts bouncing in the seat next to her, the group watching on with amusement. Maya purposely prolonged it, shifting around into weird ‘thinking positions before giggling, “Fine. I’ll do it. Thanks for sticking up for me, Kirstin, but I guess it was unneeded.” _

_ Avery stands up like she was going to make a speech, “A toast. A toast to Kirstin finally talking to Zay, because holy hell, I needed that conversation to happen since I realized that they would make a very weird conversation.” She finishes her drink quickly, grabbing her stuff, “Now, come on. I’ve got a craving for some fresh air, preferably the park.” Everybody starts to stand up, Mason and Kirstin stick around to clean up. _

_ They clean up the table in silence for most of it, putting half of the dirty dishes in the back before Mason stops her from grabbing Maya’s dish, “I think you should sign up for the art show.” _

_ Kirstin quickly grabs the cup and empty plate anyway, “What do you mean?” She felt extremely put on the spot. Just because she wished people would pay attention doesn’t mean she thought they would. Why would they when Avery was right there, when goofy Andi and happy Riley and beautiful Maya, and adorkable Smackle were all right there. She wasn’t anything special, especially since none of them read the tabloids, or really watch the news. Even then, she’d merely be a broken, awful person with nothing but money to make up for it. That was almost worse than them just thinking she had no redeemable qualities. _

_ “I mean I know you draw, I know you’re good at it. Great, even. You should sign up for the art show.” She stays quiet as she grabs the last plate from the table, turning with her arms full of dishes. _

_ “Uh… I feel like you’ll pull a Riley if I don’t but… I’ve never really done anything like this before. I didn’t even know that-” _

_ “I knew?” She nods slightly, carefully putting each dish in the sink, not wanting to break anything, “Yeah, I don’t doubt that, truly. I’m more observant than you give me credit for. That, and you left me alone in my room with your bag while you went to the bathroom this summer. I swear, I wasn’t snooping, your phone was going off and I was going to answer it for you, but I ended up finding your drawing stuff instead. And, don’t worry, I didn’t get the chance to check your phone. Plus, now that means I can help you through this awesome process. Fun, right?” Kirstin smiles to herself as she finishes cleaning up, grabbing her stuff and letting Mason throw his arm over her shoulder, easily pulling her out of the cafe. _

Ryder's P.O.V.- Present Day

I twist the blade on the table, the tip digging into the wood slightly. I stare at it, my mind working in overdrive, no real thoughts sticking long enough to process, all passing through quickly, as though they had Quicksilver’s speed.  _ She was talking to someone. She tried to fucking kill me. She loves me? Where is she? Should I track her? I should change my shirt. I should tell people. I should, I should, I should… _

“Ryder! What happened?” Jack yelps, eyes staring at my chest. Mason and he were walking into the library, muttering to themselves quietly before Jack noticed the blood.

“My eyes are up here, Buddy.” The joke sounded nearly lifeless, a dull voice to counteract the swirling emotions, “I'm not dying, so you know. I'm all healed up, actually. Kirstin is gone.”

“Gone as in...?” Jack questions quietly, taking a step back, pure terror on his face.

“No. By the Angel, no. She's not dead. Just… gone. She vanished, and I've tried tracking her, but I haven't gotten anywhere. She must've used an anti-tracking rune, meaning we won't be able to find her until she turns it off.” I twist the knife again, looking at it instead of the boys.

“No, something seems off. Kirstin isn't seeing anything, I can't access her head at least. She's never not let me into her mind, even if it’s just a conversation.” I look up at Mason, to find him also staring at the knife.

“Then you knew she wasn't in a good place. That there was  _ something _ with her.” I snapped harshly, pointing the knife toward him. I wasn't threatening him, so much as I didn't want to let go of the knife.

“Not really. I knew that she was seeing things, she told me that her powers latched on to a piece of her mom's soul, like a ghost or something. I couldn't see it, she could. She's also really good at hiding what she's thinking, probably because she does that to herself all the time, buried thoughts so she doesn't have to.deal with them. No. I didn't know.” Mason rambles for a moment, looking around the room, looking genuinely panicked.

I take a step forward, shocking away my emotions to help him calm down, “Relax, she's probably purposefully shutting you out. Alone time, right?”  _ Wrong.  _ I shake my head slightly at the thought, letting out a dry laugh. Mason still seemed slightly in panic mode, but calmed a little, definitely looking more composed.  _ What did I expect when I told him? This guy's got a heart twice the size of any of ours. Still doesn't beat Riles though… I should check up on them. _

My phone goes off, pulling me away from my thoughts. I remove it from my pocket, surprised when I see two messages.  _ But my phone only went off once? Weird.  _ Both were pretty alarming.

Mom: Meet us at Magnus’, it is important.

Magnus: I need you and the cousins at our house as soon as possible. Important, get here.

Jack's phone goes off almost right after mine, “They want us to meet them at Magnus’. Do you want me to try and call her?” I nod slowly, putting my phone in my pocket.

“I've already tried, but maybe she'll pick up for you. Yes, yeah. You do that, I'm gonna see if I can track her with something else of hers, maybe something with more of an emotional attachment. It might let me get through to her. What are the chances she could be in or near open water?”

Jack thinks for a second, “I'm not really sure. Probably not much, I don't see her around open water that often, so it never really comes up, but as far as I know, there's no way she would be.”

“Not even the slightest. Open water, like the ocean? Kirstin wouldn't go near it. She saw Cas die in the water, the leviathans spread through a large body of water. She wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. She would swim in pools, like the ones at the Compound, but not public pools. She wouldn't go swimming if she's upset, though.” Mason cuts in as Jack begins to make a phone call. I nod quickly, booking it to Kirstin's room.

I open the door easily, the drawing tacked to the door a dead give away. She did that so Andi could find her room without accidentally walking into anybody else's. I glance around, finding a near spotless room, everything tidy, except for the desk. There printed sheets of information here and there, a few lore books, a couple weapons, a hairpin, but the desk was mostly covered in drawings scattered all over it, covering nearly everything on the desk, however not completely obstructing them from view.

I set my stele down and pick one up, finding a picture of Thanos. I grab another, then another, a continuous loop of awful images that I kept pulling from the pile. Dean and Cas dead. Sam sitting in a padded room. Cas with black veins on him, climbing up his face. Avery with a vampire at her throat. Tony falling from the sky, unconscious. Steve beat up in a hospital bed, no beard in sight. Natasha hanging from a tree, dead. All of the Avengers, spread across a forest floor, dead. So many more of these awful pictures, never the same person twice, except for two people.  _ Me and her. _ There were multiple pictures of me, nearly a dozen, all gruesome and bloody. Very bloody. And the ones of her…  _ By the Angel. _

The only calm ones were pictures of a woman who looked like she could be Kirstin's twin.  _ Amelia _ . She was perched on the bed, in the window, posing weirdly, looking like she was about to laugh. So many of them, more than there was of the nightmarish ones.  _ Amelia wanted her complete focus.  _ I gather all of the pictures, stacking them up and setting them at the edge of the desk so I remember to grab them.

I spin around looking through her duffel bag, not quite sure what I'm looking for until I find it. The amulet she never takes off, sitting in the bottom of her duffel. It was passed on from Sam to Dean, back and forth between them for a while before ending up in God's hands. Then back to the boys, who gave it to Kirstin. I pick it up carefully, a blend of concern and triumph coursing through me.  _ She never goes anywhere without it near her, or around her neck. _

I grip it in my hand, turning to grab my stele, but grabbed Kirstin’s instead. I stare at it for a second; she'd need this to activate any rune, no matter the difficulty.  _ That's concerning.  _ I tuck her stele in my pocket with the necklace, grabbing my stele and shoving it in there too, grabbing the drawings and nearly sprinting out the door.

I reach the library in record time, nearly running into the couple in my hate. Jack harshly pulls his phone away from his ear, “Straight to voicemail. She’s either purposely avoiding me, or her phone is turned off.”

“How many times have you called?” I question, maneuvering around them to grab an empty file from a filing cabinet across the room, throwing the drawings in there. I spin around as Jack replies, “Four times, as soon as it went to voicemail, I hanged up and dialed again.”

“It’s hung up, Jack. Not hanged.” Mason muttered quietly, taping away on his phone, “I just sent her at least thirteen texts, I’ve called her five times, tried talking in her head twice and can’t connect at all. Make that fourteen texts.”

“Okay so, even with do not disturb on, she would’ve gotten two or three of the calls. And…” I pull out the stele, showing it to them, “she couldn’t have an anti-tracking rune without her stele with her.”

“Magnus’. Magnus’ right now.” Mason concedes, harshly tucking his phone away, nearly sprinting toward the door, Jack and I close behind, with the drawings and stele in hand.

  
  
  



	41. 40

Kirstin’s P.O.V.- Present Day

_ We are but dust and shadows _ .

I open my eyes, staring at the sky above me. I felt heavier than usual like I have an anvil sitting on my chest. I move to look around me when all at once I'm being thrust underwater. I am sinking fast, despite all attempts to force myself to the surface, seemingly stuck in one spot.

_ We are but dust and shadows _ .

My eyes flit around me as I hold my breath, my lungs screaming for oxygen, my eyesight blurred. All around me were dead bodies, strangers, floating next to me, all around me. The water between me and the blank eyes of the dead people around me slowly gets smaller and smaller until there's no space between us at all. Us, and the ones behind them, and the ones behind them. Now I'm not only drowning in water surrounded by dead people. I'm drowning and completely suffocated by them.

_ We are but dust and shadows _ .

I give up, letting the water into my lungs, down my throat, no longer trying to swim. I begin sinking again, deeper into the water, the bodies easily filling my space. The light dims, something seems to drag me down faster than the first time, my vision blurring to a point of no return.

_ You are but a reflection of others. _

I fall through the air as I fall, the ground seeming to have disappeared. Until I hit the unforgiving ground, my body screaming with the impact; soaked to the bone and coughing up water. I stand carefully, looking around the room I was in. It was made up of mirrors, the walls, the ceiling, even the floor. The only thing standing out was the sword and the chalice in the middle of the room.

“ _ You are but a reflection of others, печенье.  _ Watching others, studying them and adapting to what you see. Reflecting them, making yourself both opposite and the same together, at the same time. Bending what you see to your will, using it against them.” Natasha’s voice says softly behind me. She had told me this years ago. We were at the cafeteria, studying people, watching what they do, adapting. This was another lesson I had to practice on strange people.

“So what? I'm every piece of someone they don't want stitched into a broken excuse for a person. That's all this dream has shown me.” I snapped harshly, spinning to face her, except her form is gone now, only a reflection.

_ “With great power, comes great responsibility, or something. _ The point is that if you think you're a monster, then you probably are.” Tony’s voice is harsh as he speaks, his face a sneer in the mirror in front of me. I spin to face him, but he's not there.

“That's not how it goes. There’s more! He wasn't calling me evil, he was telling me that I'm threatening, that I'm only evil if I decide I'm ev-”

“ _ People don't care.  _ They don't care what you think, what you feel. They see one single shred of darkness on you and they attack, they leach on it and draw it out. You've got a lot more than a sliver, Kirstin.”  _ All of us do. That's why hunters stay away from people. _ I move away from the reflection of Charlie. I grab the cup, chucking it at the mirrored wall. It sinks through it like it was water.

“ _ Violence is the only reaction you can think of,  _ the only one you know. You go for the violent answer, even when peace is possible. You will always pick a sword over a pen. Don't act like its a good thing because, in the end, you're always going to be alone.” It’s Sam’s voice now. He said this when he was soulless. While it was Sam talking, Mason stands there now. I close my eyes taking a deep breath as the tears begin to fall again. I grab the blade, spinning behind me and thrusting the sharp piece of metal through his waist.

My eyes fly open when the painful groan is released. Mason stands there with his hands on the bloody blade.

_ Kirstin? _

I yank the blade back, stopping Mason's body from hitting the ground, pulling him into me as the blood gushes from the fatal wound.

_ Princess? _

I cry, falling to the ground and resting my head on his chest.  _ Nothing but a reflection, a monster that's prone to violence, that's full of darkness. In the end, you’re always going to be alone. _

I shoot up out of the bed I was laying on, attempting to run toward the door. I get a quarter of the way there when I feel a sharp tug on my ankle, causing me to fall flat on my face. _ Ouch.  _ I move to stand up, only for the tugging to happen again. I spin slowly to look at whatever the hell was holding me back. As soon as my eyes land on the ankle cuff, everything that happened before I passed out came rushing back. I yank on the cuff, watching the chain it was connected to go taut, the other side connected to the bed, “It won't break. It's made to withstand strength like yours.” I move to the next approach as the blonde man drenched in shadows across the room from me speaks. I attempt to teleport away, only for nothing to happen, “You can't teleport either. I have wards for that. Everything else works if you want to give it a try.” I growl sending a blast of power his way. The golden colored power begins to reach him, it hits an invisible wall, dissipating instantly. I huff, looking back down to my new jewelry piece before deciding to examine the room.

The room around her seemed to mimic her room at the Institute, except everything that could be used to her herself, or anyone else for that matter, was gone. All the furniture was cemented to the ground, and the ceiling was too high to do anything about, “Alright. So you have me locked in a room with no doors, no window, and nothing for me to eat and drink. Clearly you don't want me dead, otherwise, you wouldn't have gone through the trouble.to take me when you could have just used an angel blade drenched in demon blood. What exactly is the plan here? Watching me starve for your own twisted enjoyment, Jonathan?”

The blonde haired man shoots toward the clear partition of the room, his completely black eyes coming into view, “My name is Sebastian. Jonathan died years ago. That heavenly fire murdered him, separated us. I am  _ not _ Jonathan.” His skin was clear of any runes, a clear sign that something was different. He easily straightened up, smiling an almost coy smile, “He went to Heaven, I'm here now. And I would never let you starve, Princess. You're key to my plan, one you probably know well. After all, you do spend a lot of time with my siblings, right?”

I stare at the ground for a moment looking around the room, “Where are we?”

A laugh rings through the room, “Like I would tell you that. I know about Mason, Princess. I've been watching you for months. All you need to know is that it's secure, you'll be safe here.”

A harsh laugh escapes my lips, my eyes focused on the wall my body was facing, a bitter, hostile, anger sinking into her body. Her voice is acidic her face a mask of rage, “ _ Safe? I'll  _ be  _ safe _ ?  _ Really _ ? You know, I'll just kidnap a teenage girl, throw her in a prison cell that looks like  _ her  _ room at home, chain her up, tell her you've been watching her for  _ months  _ and add you're safe now at the end of it. Because that just justifies  _ everything _ . Are you a complete idiot? That is nowhere near safe! I'm trapped with a psychopath! I'm as good as dead!”

“I would never hurt you, and I'm sad that you think I would. I hope you come to your senses by the time I collect what I'm due; I would truly love for you to be by my side. You, my princes, and I will rule together, have everything we've ever wanted, avenge everything taken from us. You'll come around. I must go now. I have an appointment.” With that, the demonic asshole turns to leave, his eyes flicking to green as he disappears through a doorway.

Kirstin lays back on the floor, watching the door across the room, eyes glazing over as she loses herself in her thoughts.  _ How the hell do you get yourself out of this one Kirstin? _

_ Meanwhile Elsewhere… _

“You  _ lost  _ Kirstin? How do you even lose a person?” Simon asks, looking rather pissed off at the three teenagers across the room.

“I mean, technically, she could have just run off. She was really upset, she left, and now we can't track her, which, okay, that adds up.” Ryder begins to explain, his hand in his pocket, his.other playing with the edge of the file.

“I have a feeling there is a but coming,” Jace adds dryly, earning a glare from his son and his wife.

“Yeah, sadly there is. You know, we can't track her so the first thing to assume is she activated the anti-tracking rune. Except, we have her stele, and all the other steles have been accounted for. She won't answer her phone, and these two told me she always responds, even if she's upset, or she leaves. She hasn't responded at all, and it's been nearly four hours. And there was this, uh… a minor incident that I'm pretty sure was a ghost.”

“A ghost in the Institute? No way. We have wards that prevent that and you know it.” Alec swiftly cuts into the conversation, his voice hard, even though he was extremely concerned. While he didn't always like Kirstin, he respected her as a person and it would be very unfortunate to see such talent and passion for Hunting going to waste.

“Yeah well… do we have cameras in the Institute?” Ryder questions turning to look at his parents.

“Yes. One in each room, because I find that a lot more safe than just trusting the wards.” Ryder nods to himself, muttering a quite  _ awesome.  _ The talk goes on for a while before a conclusion is decided.

“If she's not back in two days, we'll start to worry. For now, we need to work on figuring out how the hell the three of you caused that much damage  _ touching _ .”

 


	42. 41

Kirstin's P.O.V.- Eight Days Later…

I fidget with the surprisingly soft blanket, sitting on the shockingly comfortable bed. _ Sebastian really went through a lot of trouble to make me, a prisoner, cozy here. Maybe he thinks it will make me compliant, or at least a little calmer.  _ I tug my leg, purposefully causing the chain to go taut, keeping me focused.  _ Find out as much as possible. _

I hear the door open Softly, chatter feeling the room. _ He has some sort of partner. _ “Good morning, Kirstin. Did you sleep well?”

I glared at Sebastian, though I quickly recuperate, making my face go blank.  _ Reflect Kirstin.  _ I sigh, schooling my features into an almost sad expression, “I didn't sleep. Didn't even know it was morning.”

A flash of an unrecognizable emotion flickers through his features. It vanishes as quickly as appears though, when he turns and exits the room, returning with a tray of food. Like actual food from a restaurant, the good stuff that makes your mouth water.  _ What the actual hell? What is this? An attempt at bribery? Attempt to drug me? Both? _

“That's quite a pity. It is beautiful outside today. The summer weather is treating us nicely. Maybe I'll take you around town sometime. I brought food, are you hungry?”

I shake my head carefully, painting on a wounded smile, forcing my voice into a melodic sound, soft and sweet, a way that catches guys like him every time. “No thank you. Am I… you said you've been watching me for months. Am I the only one you took?” I lean forward, letting it sound like I would be proud if I was.

“Of course you are. You are the only girl I needed. More are coming of course; your lover and your cousin. Don't worry, you are the one and only Princess I need.”  _ My lover? The only Princess he'll need?  _ I force myself not to gag on the next words that leave my mouth attempting to sound happy with the idea, “The only Princess the King will ever need. I love it.”

The blonde in front of her cocks his head to the side, a smirk appearing on his face, “No you don't. I may be different, but I am no fool, Princess. I have been watching you for months, I know that you can and will attempt to play me. I know how were taught how to get information by being the one under interrogation, to get inside my head by playing the part I want to see you as. Nobody changes their tune that quickly, Little One. Nice try, I almost fell for it.”

She lets her face fall into a frown, her voice venomous, “I'm sorry you feel that way.”His nostrils flare as he exhales, an anger filled movement, “You say you've been watching me for months. That means you've seen every nook and cranny. How does it feel to know that the girl you think can learn to appreciate and care for you wants to bang your nephew? That your own sister hates you? Did you get off on watching me in helpless positions? Me changing and never knowing you were there? Is that what kind of freak you are?”

Sebastian's cool front snaps, his fist slamming against the partition, “I would never do that! I wouldn't violate you like that. Not my Princess. You're innocent, kind, and you have saved yourself for the day you and Ryder will marry, taking the place as the rightful Royal court, BY MY SIDE. I would watch you guys, in the Institute. In your precious Bunker. The way you two interact is amazing. Every kiss leaves you two wanting more doesn't it? Every mirror I'd look through, every camera feed I see. You two are gorgeous. I always knew my sister would have beautiful offspring. I had hoped they would be mine, but Jace is a lovely second, don't you think?”

“Not the compound?” I ask meekly, trying to seem scared, tears streaming down my cheek.  _ I should get an Oscar for this shit. Crying on command is hard _ .

“No. No never your compound. There is a Godly magic there, one of great power, that blocks anyone seeing through the thick ward. I couldn't watch through the mirrors and my colleagues couldn't get through the cameras. No, your precious Avenger secrets are safe. Shh, Princess don't cry. It'll be okay. You'll s-” The door is open, an indistinguishable male voice coming through the door. He straightens up, his anguished feature going stoic, “Yes, of course. I am done in here, yes. I will be more than willing to meet with him. Let's go.” Without another word, he turns and leaves.

_ Telepathic link, activate.  _ I think jokingly, debating over what I should say to Mason, planning carefully.  _ I can't keep the link long. The runes on the walls track power levels. They'd notice it. Shit. Coded, definitely coded… you get one shot at this, make it good. _

Jack’s P.O.V.- Six Days later…

I play with Kirstin's stele, tears welling up as I attempt to track her for the hundredth time within the past two weeks. I've lost track of how many times I've actually done it, not that it matters because I still come up with nothing. Every. Single. Time.  _ Why am I so useless? The past two times Kirstin's been taken, I've done nothing but pout and whine. I should do something. Anything.  _ “Jack? Babe?”

I wipe away a few stray tears, blinking a few moments before turning to face Mason. He looked concerned, which made me feel slightly guilty.  _ She was his best friend _ . I force a slight smile, though it only seems to make his concern grow. “Hey Mase. I was just,” I sniffle slightly, twirling the stele in my hand so he could see it, “tracking her again.” I turn back toward the wall, not wanting him to see me cry.

“Maybe you should take a break, Jack. It can't be good for you to constantly use your powers. You can't help her if you're worn so thin you can't think straight.” He walks toward me, slowly but not in a way like he needs to be cautious, more giving me the time to push him away.

I let out a yell, throwing the stele across the room. It thumps against the wall, falling to the floor with a slight  _ ting.  _ I spin around, facing Mason, “I should be able to help her now! Be able to do something! Anything! All this power and the only thing I can do is wait. Wait and watch everybody I know and love pretend they are okay because I can’t  _ do anything!”  _ Tears blur my vision as I yell, wishing I had something else to throw.

Mason takes a careful step forward putting his hand on my arm. I shove his hand away, only for it to move right back, his other hand placing itself on my other arm, “Listen to me. It’s okay to be mad, sad… I almost went Dr. Seuss and said glad, but you should not be glad. I get it, I understand. You’re upset Kirstin was taken from you again. I kind of think Kirstin has a habit of getting kidnapped, which is why everyone is acting like they are okay. They’ve handled it before, Kirstin has always come back, they aren’t going to let this one be different, okay?”

“I’m not mad. I mean I am mad, I’m furious. But I’m just… I’m so…” Tears spring to my eyes as I try to explain what’s going on.

“You’re frustrated that you can’t help. You’re angry that you don’t understand why you’re so upset. Then, adding onto the Kirstin being kidnapped, this is still new for you. You’re not used to kidn- Ah!” Mason cries out in pain, his knees giving out and hands flying to his head. I catch him, setting him in the chair in front of the desk.

“Mason! Are you okay? What-”Mason's hands fly out, snatching up a piece of paper and a pen, writing something down, “Mason!” He continues to ignore me, his writing quick and sloppy, his hand shaking as he writes. As soon as his hand comes to a stop, he takes three deep breaths and begins to rewrite what he wrote.

“Kirstin. She just contacted me. It hurt, it’s never hurt before. Everything just reconnected at once. I could feel her there again but she's gone now. I don’t… We need the others.” I stare at him for a moment, watching as he finishes what he’s writing. My eyes widen as I see the urgency in his features.

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s go!”


	43. 42

Ryder’s P.O.V.- Present Day

I stand in the conference room of the Avenger’s Compound, reading the paper Mason had written, handing it off to the others. “This doesn’t make any sense. Are you sure this is what she sent?”

The note was complete nonsense; YIELDING OR UNYIELDING, A RARE EXAMPLE BORROWS EXCELLENT IDEAS NOT GIMMICKS. WADE: A TARNISHED, CLUMSY, HARSH, EAGER DICK. IMMEDIATELY, NOT SLOWLY. TURN IT TECHNICAL, UNDO THE END. NOT ON THE STOVE AFTER FIVE EDGES. STEVE TAKES A YEAR OF UNEMPLOYMENT TOO. OH FUCK. PETER: UNFORTUNATE. BATMAN LUCKILY IS CRIME-FIGHTING. PURPLE LAKES: A COLORFUL EDITION, SIR. DRIVE OVER NO ONE TOMORROW. LET ELVES ALIENATE VINE EASELS. RUN JUNIOR, AT LEAST ONE NIGHT EACH. AVENGERS CUDDLES. JOHN ON NEGLECT; A TACTLESS, HARSH, AND NEEDLESS HELL. ABSENT SACRIFICE MEANS ENOUGH. HELP ELEPHANTS IN SAHEL. NO OLIVES TODAY AND LET ONE NUMBER EDUCATION.

“Sorry, the phone reception was shitty, I didn't quite grasp what she sent.” Acidic sarcasm drips over the words as Mason speaks, “Yes. This is exactly what she sent. Down to the last letter. I thought maybe they could figure it out because it probably has some greater meaning.” The two teens turn to look at the small group next to them. Steve, Tony, and Nat were huddled together, the blondes reading over the genius’ shoulder.

“It's clearly a code, that much is clear. But this is Kirstin, she knows at least seven different ways to code important information. She'll probably go for the hardest one there is.” Natasha mutters quietly, her face blank and her eyes never leaving the paper. Tony holds up a finger, setting the paper on the table and grabbing another piece.

“Or that's just what she wants us to think. We just assume she'd go for the most encrypted one because she knows how to, and knows that  _ we _ could figure it out. But she sent this to Mason for the Shadowhunters to read which means that, no offense, she's going to attempt to dumb it down for their sakes. So…” He trails off as he begins writing, occasionally looking at the source material. He finishes quickly, spinning the paper to show us, “You use the first letter of every word, and you get what you need.”

I snatch the paper off of the table reading carefully. YOU ARE BEING WATCHED. INSTITUTE NOT SAFE. STAY OUT OF PUBLIC PLACES. DO NOT LEAVE R. J. ALONE. A. C. JONATHAN HAS ME. HE IS NOT ALONE. “A. C.? R. J.? She was definitely in a hurry.”

“I think you should be more concerned with the important information she just gave us. Your little safe haven isn't so safe, she doesn't want you or Jack left alone, and she's telling you to come to the Avenger’s Compound, probably meaning the Bunker isn't secure either.” Tony broaches the more important subjects of the note.  _ I guess that's what R.J. stands for. _

“We are also now informed that he's working with people who would willingly kidnap her to help his cause,” Mason adds after snatching the paper from my hands.

“Or to help their own causes. A lot of people could be after her and willing to do anything to get her.” Steve finally speaks up, having been quiet for most of the time the two have been here. He looked beyond tired, the beard giving him a final touch on the world-weary look.

“Most of our enemies have the resources, but I highly doubt any of them will be willing to hand her over to him, even if they are working toward a common goal. Get the leaders of your Institute here. We need to know more about this guy.”

#

A file slams down on the table, Nick Fury standing next to my parents, who seem very confused. “This is everything you need to know about the psychopath that is Jonathan Morgenstern. Honestly, is it too hard to believe that I would keep track of the world within ours, with all of the crazy shit I’ve seen in my life?”

Mason gives him a weird look, “Aren’t you legally dead? Wouldn’t it be like your… un-life?” He cracks a smile at his own stupid joke, earning a laugh out of me. More out of the fact that it was awful than the fact that it was actually funny.

“That doesn’t make any sense. You might want the Avengers for this one. All of them. You know what happens when a homicidal maniac with powers decides he wants to rule the world. All of you do. Except for you two. You’re like, four years old.” Eye-patch points to us as he says the last line, earning a snort from Tony.

“I think you’re confusing us with the two-year-old that we know. You know he looks about twenty, could probably blow your ass to smithereens. You should definitely watch what you say, age is just a number.” I shoot back, pulling a chair out to sit in, staring at him with amusement clear on my face.

Tony points to me, “I like him. We are definitely keeping him around. Both of them. All right, Raggedy Anne, Goldilocks, what do you know about this guy that we don’t have in this file?”

My dad rolls his eyes, scoffing and turning to make a comment. My mom elbows him in the side before turning, “Okay,  _ Mr. Stark,  _ tell me how we are supposed to tell you the information you can’t learn from the file without knowing what is in the said file? And even if you read things about my brother from a file, doesn’t mean you understand how he acts and thinks. It means you know facts and facts won’t get you anywhere with a situation like him. You have to have actually seen the way he acts, known the way he thinks.” Natasha drops the file on to the table again, having been the one to look through it in the first place.

“She’s right. It’s full of the things he’s done, but it doesn’t explain any of his motives. He died before he could be interrogated, so the only people who can know what he wanted, in depth, would be people who were close enough to him. Which would be you two.”

“Sadly.” I snort at Dad’s sidetracked comment, actually laughing when all the attention in the room shifts to him, “He wants the world. He wants people’s attention, he wants to rule the world because he doesn’t want to be alone.”

“He thinks that he can force people to, for a lack of better word,  _ love  _ him. If the fate of their world was in his hand, they would have to appreciate him, and he’d never have to worry about being a pariah. Everything would be bent to his will.” My mother cuts in before any of the three Avengers can speak.

“He used to want us by his side, but now we think he wants your niece. She’s powerful, dangerous, manipulative. She acts like she’s a monster, just like him. That’s everything he could want in a Queen.”

“Except he calls her Princess.” Tony cut in, “If this is the same guy that killed Justin, he calls her Princess. He wanted to make you Queen, right? I mean, gross but this is a clearly mentally disturbed guy, so whatever. What did he refer to you as?” I turn to Mason, gagging slightly as Tony rehashes the fact that my uncle ‘loved’ my mother in such a disturbing way. He mouth ‘nasty’, Steve telling him to pay attention.

“His Queen, pretty simple. But she’s young, it could be him attempting to justify his actions.” The blonde cuts in answering for Mom. That seems to infuriate her.

“I can speak for myself. Yes, he called me his Queen. No, we haven’t been able to figure out why he refers to her as Princess, except that maybe he sees her as an underling. Someone to take over if he were to ever die. Like Valentine tried doing with him, having someone to take over the reins if something goes south.”

“Or maybe she’s not the only person he wants,” Steve adds, turning to look at the Shadowhunters in front of him. “She’s a Nephilim, she’s powerful, but she isn’t the only Nephilim. There’s Jack.”

“And me.” I stare at the table, thinking for a moment. “Kirstin even stated in her message not to leave us alone. What if he wants all three of us? We can do things separately sure, but together… Having all of us on his side, whoever he’s working with, and his own powers. ”

“He’d be nearly unstoppable.:” Tony states, looking up at the roof, “FRIDAY, I want you to find any recent activity for all of the organizations we have flagged in the cloud. Every hit gets sent directly to me, no one else.”

“On it, Master Stark.”

“Now, we have to figure out how he would go about his plan. Any place you can think of that he could keep her, or be hiding out in himself. No discussing any of this in the Institute. He’s watching you, but that doesn’t mean he’s tracking you, come here for any discussions, only bring the people you have one hundred percent trust in.” Steve stands up at the same time Tony does, making it clear that the meeting was about to be over.

“Don’t set off any suspicions to the people you don’t trust. Don’t tell them you’re coming here, but don’t go out of your way to tell them a specific place you would be going. If they catch you in a lie, they will know something’s up. Act as natural as possible.” Natasha advises, moving her blond hair out of her face, “I’ll talk to the boys, tell them not to talk about any of this in the Bunker, and to keep a close eye on jack anytime he’s around. We do not need another Nephilim down. I assume I don’t have to tell you to-”

“Keep an eye on our son? Yeah, got that loud and clear.” My mom nods easily, waiting for me to head out of the room to exit, “Why is it always our family involved in the imminent threats?”

“Because Valentine and Sebastian are crazy, and we are powerful?” My dad offers, trailing slightly behind us, Mason next to him, seemingly preoccupied.

“Because they found out we know how to have a good time and want to take us for a spin?” I nearly start laughing as soon as I open my mouth, barely getting through the whole joke before bursting into a fit of laughter.


	44. 43

Kirstin’s P.O.V.- One Month Later…

I stare at the ceiling, listening to the noise outside of my room. It seemed to be an argument but the words were muffled. The few sentences I could make out were very unnerving.  _ No… More time… Can’t rush… no progress.  _ I know they were dampening my hearing, and clearly failing, so not being able to hear anything isn’t super shocking. What is shocking is when the door flings open, an unrecognizable figure stomping into the room, quickly followed by Sebastian.

“Stand up.” The man states harshly, pulling out a baton, disabling the partition in front of me. I scramble to my feet, debating different ways to get the hell out of here. The guard grabs some cuffs as I study him carefully.  _ Definitely trained. Probably high ranking, if he was the one in the doorway. A higher rank then Morgenstern, at least.  _ “One move and I will put a bullet between your eyes. Put your wrists out in front of you.”

I purposely fold my arms behind my back, “I’d like to see you try.” He smacks me in the side with his baton, sending a rush of pain through me, almost like electricity, earning a growl from the back of my throat.  _ Electrical batons. Well, shit.  _ I keep my wrists where they are, however. Another hit. And another, and another. When he realizes he’s not going to get me to move on my own, he does it for me, moving my arms to put a pair of handcuffs on after an extra long shock through my body, followed by three more hits.

I fall to the ground when he shoves, deciding it might just be better to play along with whatever he’s planning until I know what’s happening. He unlocks my ankle cuff, though the cuffs seem to have the same runes as the ankle, considering I still feel like there’s a gaping hole in my powers, “This won’t solve anything, you know. We can’t have her forget anything, she needs her memories to access her powers. Erasing her will erase everything. It could take years before she could even be close to ready.” Sebastian states, his posture nearly regal, his anger clear on his face.

The guard sizes me up for a moment, “Are you sure she is as powerful as you say? She hasn’t tried to attack yet. I figured she would if she is so powerful.”

“She’s not idiotic, Roberts. Attacking won’t get her anywhere. She has heightened hearing, she can hear that there are people in the halls, many of them. Attacking would most likely cause more problems than it would solve.”

The guard, Roberts, moves in front of me, examining me still, “Do you speak?”

“Kiss my ass, you stupid motherfucker.” He Roberts slaps me across the face, watching my reaction carefully. I bite back another comment sneering at him. He grabs the handcuffs, yanking me to my feet and all but dragging me out of the room.

“It's time to teach her some respect. Come on, Morgenstern.” I thrash against him, watching as people move through the hallways next to us. Being half-dragged didn’t help my examination of them, but it did mean I didn’t have to walk on my shaky legs. Only being able to move around a small circumference and not eating most of the time I’ve been here meant I was a lot weaker than before.

“Please, I will  _ never  _ have respect for you.” He ignores me, continuing to drag me down quite a few more hallways, past a cell and into a strange room. The room hand many people milling around it, a torture looking chair in the middle of it. “Listen, if you erase me, I couldn’t help you if I wanted to. Everything I remember fuels my knowledge of my powers, what triggers them and what makes them stall. Erase that, you erase  _ everything  _ you need from me. I will be useless. Is that really what you want?”

He seems to consider for a moment, holding me still as I squirm, “We could continue this waiting game to see if you’ll cooperate, to let you know how to use your powers. Or we could erase your memories now and train you properly.” He shoves me toward the chair, two guards moving forward to grab me, “I like the second idea better.”  _ Guess it’s now or never.  _ I let my eyes flicker gold, sending a pulse through the room, everybody flying backward, Sebastian included. I let out a blood-curdling scream, letting the electricity flicker out in large sets of sparks. The guards recover quickly, moving to attack me in tandem. I move without thinking, letting instinct take over.

I spin the first guard around, wrapping my handcuffed hands around her throat, using the chain between them to choke her. I turn so I’m facing the other guard, kicking him square in the chest as I wait for the one behind me to go limp. Three more guards appear around me.  _ Shit.  _ I use my illusionary/halluciative (or whatever you want to call it) to make it seem like I disappeared out of their sights, releasing the now unconscious guard in the process. I keep it up, letting it surround me as I make a break for the door. “Close the door. Get this building on lockdown,  _ now! _ ” Sebastian grinds out, spinning toward the door at the same time I sprint out of it.  _ Now to find an exit. Or at least something to break these stupid cuffs. _

I come to a screeching halt when a group of soldiers comes barreling down the hallway in actual soldier get-up, unlike the ones in the room who had the pants, but different shirts. These only confirmed what I had already realized to be true.  _ Sebastian is working with Hydra.  _ When they pass I sneak a blade out of one of their holsters already wincing in pain before I have actually done anything. I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to look at what I’m about to do, biting my lip and swinging. The sharp blade easily slices through my wrist with the force applied, holding back a scream. I quickly rip the handcuff away from my severed wrist, quickly grabbing the hand on the floor placing it on the stump of my arm, watching it easily reattach.  _ Well, I’ll definitely have nightmares.  _ I think to myself, quickly repeating the process with my other hand, watching the cuffs fall to the ground.

I sigh, messing around with my wrists for a moment before closing my eyes and focusing on the Compound.


	45. 44

Ryder's P.O.V.- Present Day

“Ryder.” A voice mutters, a body in the bed next to me, slightly hovering over my right side. I jerk into action, grabbing the person's throat, throwing the body down and squeezing.

I lean over grabbing my witchlight off my nightstand, watching it light up the dark room, revealing the person in my bed. Wrenching my hand back, I instead pull the person into a hug, dropping the witchlight onto the bed.  _ This has got to be a dream. _ “Kirstin!”

“Kinky.” She coughs out, rubbing her throat slightly. I bury my face in her hair, breathing her in, “Oh, don't do that! I haven't showered in forever. Get off, you're fat.” I roll to the side, pulling her so she's straddling my waist.

“Better?” I reach over clicking on the light so I could get a better view of her. Her normally slightly curled black hair is flat, dirty, and extremely tangled. She was wearing the same outfit she was when she was taken, though it was also extremely dirty, “Are you okay? How are you here?”

“No, not better. I'm fine. I'll explain that later and I need a shower. And you might want to.wash your bed sheets. They're probably covered in stench now.” She swings a leg over me, easily stepping off the bed, “Mind if I used your shower? Your bathroom is the one without a mirror.”

“Uh…” I stare at her for a moment of silent confusion. “Yeah, sure. I will grab your clothes from your room.” Moving to the door, I stall momentarily when she lets out a startling yelp.

“No! That'll tip him off that I came here! The less he knows the better!”

“If he's using the cameras, then couldn't I just teleport to your room? I grab the stuff and get back here without him seeing anything. Sounds good to me.” I move to open the door, but Kirstin grabs my wrist.

“Except that he's also watching through  _ mirrors _ , Ryder. You don't have any in here, but I have at least three in the entirety of my room. Going in there will easily set him off. Can I just… borrow something of yours? Or I could get into the Compound and grab it, it might take a-”

“Hell no. You are not leaving this room without me. You can just wear one of my shirts and I have a pair of shorts you can wear just… get in the shower, I'll get everything ready.” She nods walking to the doorway before turning and acting as though she's going to say something, “I won't go in front of the mirrors or cameras. I won't even leave the room, okay?” Another nod.

After a moment or two, the water kicks on, breaking the eeriness of this whole situation. I should go wake the others up, tell them that she's okay.  _ At least text Tony. Tell him she's sleeping so he doesn't come barging in.  _ I continue to ponder my options, pulling one of my shirts out of its designated drawer, slowing down when I get to a drawer I haven't opened in a  _ long  _ time.  _ Almost a year. Huh. _

I carefully open it, finding it full of familiar clothing. A sundress, two pairs of jeans, three shirts, undergarments and a pair of pajama shorts. There was also a necklace, a beautiful one at that.  _ I didn't even know she left that here.  _ I stare for a moment, running my hand over the cold metal. It was a circular pendant, a pretty simple design too. A tree with an owl resting on it.  _ Julian had gotten it at an antique store for her birthday. _ I close my eyes, sharply inhaling, grabbing the clothing and necklace and sliding the drawer shut. It still hurt, but nowhere near as excruciating as the beginning.  _ I've moved on, Livvy. I will always love you… but I have to let you go. I already have.  _ Even as I think it, and recognize the truth in the words, I still have a grip on the necklace.

I must've taken longer than I thought, because the door opened with a slight click, revealing a towel-wrapped Kirstin.  _ Still could be a dream. Could definitely be a dream. Maybe heaven. Probably going go to hell.  _ “Hey. Uh here.” I hand her some clothing spinning around to face the wall.

It was quiet for a few moments, Kirstin changing and me still messing with the necklace. “I'm slightly curious as to where you got these. You can turn around, I'm dressed now.” I spin slowly, seeing Kirstin in my shirt, the edges of Livvy's shorts barely in view due to a combination of how long the shirt is on her, and the fact that the shorts are really, well, short.

“They were Livia's. She used to keep a drawer of her stuff here, and I didn't have the heart to get rid of them. I actually used to open the drawer just to smell the perfume that was permanently stuck to her clothes.”

She leans over to grab the dress off my bed, holding it out slightly, “I get it. Sometimes you just what something to remember them by. I mean, I get… I don't know how it feels to lose a significant other. I've never had a significant other to lose, but I have lost a lot of people I loved in my time. Keeping something they owned, something that smelled like them, seemed almost…” She trails off, randomly dropping the dress back where it sat, staring at me.

“Calming and painful at the same time?” I offer, moving forward and carefully touching her. Placing my hand on her hip, I carefully hand her the necklace, “This was hers. I… I don't want you to think that I’m… that I haven't moved on. I mean, I guess you never truly get over your first love, there's always going to be a part of me that loves her.”

I see her jaw work, examining her face as she stares at my chest, “This isn't… it is not the only reason I don't think this is a good idea, but… How do I know that that part of you isn't the only reason you love me? I'm a Blackthorn, my eyes and some aspects of my personality remind you of her. That's an easy replacement, right? Makes me easily disposable.”

Her eyes well up with tears while she tries to turn her back on me. I hold her steady forcing her to look at me, my hand resting on her cheek. I wipe away some tears, stopping their path down her face. “No way. I… I hope she's with her parents in Heaven, laughing and not missing us because what's the point? We'll be there eventually. And when I go there, I won't worry because I know that while I look at someone I once loved the person I will always love will be joining me someday. _You._ I want to be with _you._ I loved her. I love her. I will always continue to love her. But I can love her and let her go. I loved her, but I've let her go.”

The tears are streaming down her face now as she laughs lightly, “You stole that from Clay Jensen and that really only makes me love you more. God, I never cry over stupid shit like this. I'm just scared.” she grabs my hand, taking a small step back “I'm not sentimental, not really. I was never raised in a family who openly admires each other, who openly talks about feelings. Dean would have never come out as bisexual if he hadn't met Cas. Sam would have probably just went on living life alone if Nat hadn't found out about our world. Everybody in my life would rather shut up and deal with it than actually talk about  _ anything.  _ I've never dated. Not.once. I moved around too much, I was always the weird kid and I am just all around unlovable. I make people feel like crap because of my sense of humor, I don't dress nice, I don't wear makeup, I don't  _ try  _ to be liked. I strive for the opposite actually.”

My lips twitch into a smile, “I can tell.”

A watery laugh interrupts her, “I would respond, but I want to stay on topic before my emotional constipation kicks back into gear. Um… you. You are one of my closest friends, and my point of that long ass statement was to say that you looked past that and just decided,  _ ‘hey, this weird bitch seems like a nice friend to have’.  _ For some goddamn reason, you were the first person to talk to me. Which was a very weird conversation. Why didn't you- I'm getting off topic, shit. I don't want to ruin the friendship. I realized I like you romantically, hell, I went into the library that day I kissed you planning on asking you to go on a date. Then all of my insecurities and anxiety hit me at once.”

“I would never let that-” She sends me a look silencing me mid-sentence before she starts another fast-talking explanation.

“No, you wouldn't. You would still try to be civil and try to hang out but it would probably just be awkward because everyone knows you can't be friends with your ex! And I refuse to lose one of my best friends because we couldn't work a relationship out.” Kirstin stops talking, trying to blink away the last few tears.

“It's not much different. Going from best friends to lovers. All it does is bring you closer than before. You go from two people with an extremely close connection, who are strictly platonic, to two people with an extremely close connection, that kiss and do other fun stuff sometimes. We already know we are compatible enough to get along. Our arguments are always going to be bad, always have been, but we've been friends for years and if we can't survive a relationship, I will make damn sure our friendship survives. Sometimes you have to take a risk.  _ ‘Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.’ _ Helen Keller.”

She stares at me for a few moments more as I pull back, “What if this isn't what I want?”

“Then I'll let it go. You love me, I love you. We'll keep it platonic, or our always right off the edge of platonic thing. We'll climb in bed and go to sleep, pretend this never happened. If that's what makes you happy, that's what we'll do. I don't care if you want to move on from me. If you can even realize you have a right to love and want to be loved, then I think I did pretty damn good.” I realize I still have the necklace still gripped in my other hand, the one that's kind of been stuck to my side.

More staring. The room got so quiet I swear I could hear the gears in her head working. She examines my face, letting her hands move from where they've been playing with the strings on the pajama shorts to lightly run across my cheek, over a bruise I had gotten from training with Jack twenty minutes before I had gone to bed. It was a lot worse earlier, a large cut actually, borderline gash. I healed slightly slower than those two, but fast than any other human, especially considering it was almost completely gone, “ _ ‘Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.’ _ Dalai Lama.” Kirstin bites her cheek after speaking, pulling me closer as she leans towards me. “ _ Don't move.”  _ She kisses me softly, easily her lips against mine.

This kiss felt different than the last two. The first was mostly adrenaline from her power rushing through my head, even if I meant it. The second felt heavier like there was a weight on our shoulders while it was happening. They were both really great, but this one… this one was decisive, but light. There was no more wondering what was going to happen next if this actually meant anything. It was soft and beautiful and what a hopeless romantic thinks a first kiss will be like. At least it is at first.

I pull back for air, her lips chasing mine, a dopey smile on my face, “I'm taking that as you would love to be my girlfriend.”

“Good, I don't think I could actually say that aloud at the moment. I'm slightly scared that any second now I'm going to wake up in that place and this is all going to be a twisted and awful dream.”

“Maybe a collective one.” I joke quietly, trying to pull away from the harsh reality of where she had just come from, “Like one dual wet dream that we're having at the same time.” I kiss her again, a slight peck that turns into a few slight pecks.

“You'd have to have sex for it to be a wet dream, Dodo,” I smirk as I lean down to kiss her again.

I pull back whispering in her ear, “That can be arranged.” I pull back for a moment, looking directly into her eyes, “If you are okay with that?”

She giggles, pulling out of my arms and taking a few steps back, “I love how you go from playful, flirty and slight seduction to caring and understanding in two-point-five seconds. Like from player to the nice guy next door character. It's cute. How about we just get into the bed and see how things go from there. Nothing has to happen, but something possibly could. Sound fair?” She's already moving around me and moving to crawl on the bed, sprawling across it with a relaxed air about her.

I pause for a second, thinking over her statement. I nod, spinning to crawl up the bed over her, “As long as I get to kiss you some more, I'm down. Doesn't have to lead anywhere.” She smiles, laughing again when I lean down to kiss her, nipping at her bottom lip slightly.

The necklace that was once gripping in my hand was now on the floor, forgotten about for the rest of the night.

  
  



	46. 45

Ryder’s P.O.V.- The Next Day…

I groan jokingly, maneuvering through the streets with my parents by my side, “Training is impossible. I mean, using the powers is easy, but controlling how you want it, where you want it, hell even how powerful you need it to be, is like trying to…”

My dad laughs from behind me, watching everyone around us suspiciously, as if Sebastian is going to randomly pop up and kill all three of us in public, “Clearly it's so hard to do, you can't even explain why.”

“I mean, it… have you ever done something on pure instinct? Maybe during a fight or something? And then after the fight is over, it takes forever to remember how it works or it is super complicated and hard to do? That's what it's like.” A black SUV catches my eye as we walk.

“Maybe try to get someone to attack you. Learn from how you respond to it, and build from there.” My mom offers, walking next to us. She also seems slightly lost in thought, also examining our surroundings.  _ Again, broad daylight, surrounded by people. _

We carry on our conversation moving through the crowds. We are hailing a cab when I notice the exact same SUV next to us again. Two blocks away from the first sighting in the opposite direction it was heading.  _ Coincidence maybe?  _ I shake it off, stepping into the cab that had just pulled up. We were going to the Compound to talk to Kirstin and the Avengers… which is honestly a sentence I never thought I would say, hear, or even think.

We drive for nearly twenty minutes and are still maybe ten away from the turnoff for the Compound. After the turn off it's another ten minutes and then praying that they have a security guard out that recognizes us. Except…

“Stop the car.” I interrupt the conversation my parents were having, earning an annoyed groan from the driver.

“Why?” The driver questions. I ignore him, easily climbing out when the cab comes to a stop. A few feet back was another black SUV, two more behind it.

“Grab your weapons. I think we have some visitors. Let's stop them before we get to the Compound.” It was actually my dad who said that he had gotten out as soon as I did. The doors of the first SUV open, revealing a large group of soldiers exiting the vehicle.  _ Fun times. _ I think to myself, pulling out my blade to fight against the Hydra soldiers.

_ Thirty Minutes later… _

I watch as two arrows go flying towards my parents, sinking into their respective shoulders. Something seems to drain out of the arrows into their system, “Mom! Dad!” I spin around, slicing through the soldier in front of me, quickly pulling back to stab another one. It was no use, I was surrounded and whatever they injected my parents with had left them useless.

They get closer to me, no matter how many I take out, even more appear.  _ Cut off one head, two more shall take its place, or something.  _ I continue to hack, stab, butcher and impale anybody who got close to me but was beginning to falter the more they got closer.  _ Fuck it. _

I send a blast out that sends everybody around me flying backward. At least three people bash into the side of each car, one went through the windshield and the others hit the ground. They quickly recover, causing me to move to send another blast out. Before I could, I feel something sink into my neck, causing my vision to blur and spin. The scene around me almost looked like a funhouse.

“What… what did you?” I groan dropping to the ground as the world around me shifts and bends.

“Shh… don't worry. You'll be the perfect soldier.” Another twinge in my neck and everything fades to black.


End file.
